Winning the earthquake : how Jeannette Rankin defied all odds to become the first woman in Congress / Lorissa Rinehart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rinehart, Lorissa, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rankin, Jeannette, 1880-1973--Biography.

Rankin, Jeannette.

United States. Congress. House--Biography.

United States.

Legislators--United States--Biography.

Legislators.

Women legislators--United States--Biography.

Women legislators.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

viii, 339 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First Edition

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2025.

Summary:

"Born on a Montana ranch in 1880, Jeannette Rankin knew how to ride a horse, make a fire, and read the sky for weather. But, most of all, she knew how to talk to people and unite them around a shared vision for America. It was this rare skill that led her to become the first woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As her first act, Rankin put forth the legislation that would become the Nineteenth Amendment. During her two terms, beginning in 1917 and in 1941, she introduced and lobbied for legislation strengthening women's rights, protecting workers, supporting democratic electoral reform, and promoting peace through disarmament. As Congress's fiercest pacifist, she used her vote to oppose the declaration of war against the German Empire in 1917 and the Japanese Empire in 1941, holding fast to her belief that "you can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake." A suffragist, peace activist, workers' rights advocate, and champion of democratic reform who ran as a Republican, Rankin remained ever faithful to her beliefs, no matter the price she had to pay personally. Despite overcoming the entrenched boys' club of oligarchic capitalists and career politicians to make enormous strides for women in politics, Rankin has been largely overlooked. In Winning the Earthquake, Lorissa Rinehart expertly recovers the compelling history behind this singular American hero, bringing her story back to life."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Birth

Yearling

Breakdown

From a hill in San Francisco

Like a diamond

Homecoming

From sea to shining sea

Showdown in Big Sky Country

Getting there

The vote

Running up that hill

We the people

Democracy in America

The hour of our deliverance

War

Solidarity forever

Summer of crisis

When the fall is all that's left

After the gates of hell have closed, the ground still smolders

When the waters roll back

After the war, before the war

Not dark yet

The rhyme of history

The world is a house on fire

Zero

After the end of the world

America, America

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [295]-328) and index.

ISBN:

9781250353047

1250353041

OCLC:

1549666406