The most important moments of democratic engagement over the
war powers [for WWI and II] were the elections preceding the war declarations. The
elections of 1916 and 1940 were, in essence, referenda on war. Since 1914,
there had been efforts to amend the constitution to enable some sort of popular
participation in decisions to go to war. But an important moment for the public
to register their sentiment was already there: the power to elect not only the
Commander in Chief, but also the members of Congress who would vote for or
against war.
Nothing more strongly illustrates this point than the
success of a Republican candidate in the 1940 election. Wendell Wilkie, the
Republican presidential candidate, was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, of
course. But the State of Montana would send back to the House that year a candidate who
had first captured the nation’s attention when, in April of 1917, she cast the
first vote ever by a woman in Congress, a vote against the declaration of war
with Germany.
Jeannette Rankin had been a suffrage organizer before she
ran for political office for the first time in 1916. Her platform included
preparedness for coastal defenses, as a way to avoid war. It was her widely
publicized vote against war that shaped the course of her political life in later
years. Unable to hold her seat in 1918, Rankin would be out of office -- until
1940.
In the interim, she worked for pacifist organizations and lobbied
for constitutional reform of the war powers, believing that the people’s voice
must be heard through a referendum before the nation went to war. In 1940, she challenged
a weak incumbent, running an anti-war campaign. “By voting for me,” she said in
a campaign speech, “you can express your opposition to sending your son to
foreign lands to fight in a foreign war.”[i]
The people of her district could vote against war by voting for Jeannette
Rankin.
Elected by a comfortable margin, she predicted that, unlike
the flurry of attention she received in 1917, “no one will pay attention to me
this time,” since it was no longer unusual for a woman to serve in Congress.[ii]
Once in office, Rankin offered an amendment to the
Lend-Lease bill to require specific congressional approval for the president to
send American troops abroad. Twice in the spring of 1941,
she introduced a resolution condemning any effort “to send the armed forces of
the United States to fight in any place outside the Western Hemisphere or
insular possessions of the United States.” These efforts were unsuccessful.[iii]
In December 1941, Congressmember Rankin heard the news about Pearl Harbor on
the radio. She was anguished as she made her way to the Capital on December 8.
She listened along with her colleagues as Roosevelt spoke of “a date which will live in infamy,” and called for a declaration of war. The House and
Senate then quickly took up the resolution that “the state of war between the
United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has been thrust upon
the United States is hereby formally declared.”[iv]
In the Senate, there was no debate, and a swift and unanimous vote.
In the House, a radio station, continuing to broadcast after the president’s speech, in violation of House rules, captured the scene. Because
of Rankin’s role as a war dissenter, “all eyes were on her as majority leader
John McCormack moved the question.” She “rose to object, but was quickly cut
off.” Congressman Martin of Massachusetts held the floor, “yielding to
isolationists ready to recant their isolationism.” Rankin again tried to speak,
but Speaker Sam Rayburn ignored her. Spectators in the gallery called out for
her to sit down. When word came through that the Senate had already voted,
House members insisted on moving forward. “They’re calling to shut down any
further debate,” the radio announcer said. “A most unusual procedure.”
Standing, her hand raised, Rankin tried once more, and
attempted to raise a point of order. Rayburn slammed down the gavel and said,
“The roll call cannot be interrupted.” The other 388 members of the House
present that day voted yes. Rankin's no vote was met with a chorus of hisses and
boos.[v]
Harsh words about “Japanese devils”[vi]
could be heard that day, as could Representative Byron’s claim that she would
be willing to sacrifice her sons for the war effort.[vii]
The House violated its own rules in their effort to silence the one voice in
their chamber wishing to question the rush to war.
It is easy for us to question Jeannette Rankin’s judgment,
but she was fulfilling her campaign promise, she would later say, the pledge
she had made to the mothers and fathers of Montana to keep their sons out of
war. The vote came so quickly, as compared with World War I – at 1:10 pm
Eastern time, less than 24 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She thought
that for something as momentous as war, they should wait until the facts were
all in.[viii]
There would be later occasions when Americans would wish that their members of Congress had
taken the time to investigate. But on December 8, Rankin was widely vilified.
An avalanche of opprobrium fell down upon her immediately.
She had to escape to a telephone booth, and a police officer helped her get
safely back to her office.
Beneath a mountain hate mail, some, like Roger Baldwin, wrote
to say that they admired her courage, and as the nation geared up for war, the
writer Lillian Smith said: “that one little vote of yours stands out like a
bright star in a dark night.”[ix]
[i]
Norma Smith, JR, 175-76. [Please excuse incomplete citations -- I thought they would be helpful nevertheless.]
[ii]
Smith, JR, 177.
[iii] http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-%28R000055%29/
[iv]
Cong Rec 9520.
[v] http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-%28R000055%29/
[vi] Walter Cronkite, NPR.
[vii]
Cong Rec 9521.
[viii]
Ted Carlton Harris, “Jeannette Rankin: Suffragist, First Woman Elected to
Congress” (Ph.D. diss., University of Georgia, 1972), 295-96.
[ix]
Lillian Smith to JR, December 13, 1941, quoted in Ted Carlton Harris,
“Jeannette Rankin: Suffragist, First Woman Elected to Congress” (Ph.D. diss.,
University of Georgia, 1972), 297.