At The Referent Group, we’ve asked this question to hundreds of people over the past few years:
“When was the first woman elected to Congress in the US?”
Answers usually range from the 1970s to as far back as the 1930s. What’s your guess?
The answer may surprise you—it did me. The year was 1916!
That’s right. Three years before women even had the right to vote in America, Jeannette Rankin of Montana was elected to the US House of Representatives. She went on to serve two separate terms in Congress, first from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1941 to 1943.
Her two terms happened to line up with two historic votes. A committed pacifist, Rankin voted in 1917—along with 50 other congressmen—against entering The First World War. Thirty-four years later she was present as FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
On December 8, 1941, Rankin stood alone as the only member of either house of Congress to vote against declaring war. Despite the hissing of colleagues, the angry telegrams, the disparaging press, she remained clear in her convictions, despite the circumstances.
William Allen White wrote, “Probably a hundred men in Congress would have liked to do what she did. Not one of them had the courage to do it.” And while White entirely disagreed “with the wisdom of her position,” he had to admit, “it was a brave thing! And its bravery someway discounted its folly.”
Like White, I’m not a pacifist; I definitely believe there are things worth fighting for. Also like White, I admire Jeannette Rankin’s courage and clarity around her core values. I may not agree with her, but I trust her. She is who she says she is. She’s authentic.
How about you? Do those around you know what you stand for? Do you know what you stand for? Getting clear on your core values—the things you are committed to regardless of circumstance—is essential to cultivating and communicating your trustworthiness.
For Reflection: When was the last time you took a stand?
Update: Revising Proposal & Queries
I’ve received a lot of great feedback on my proposal and I’m currently revising it and drafting my queries which I plan to start sending out by the end of the month!
