The mention of the name "Janet Langin" is unfamiliar to many people, and although her fame in the United States is not as well-known as a household name, she is also a legendary woman destined to be recorded in the annals of American history.
Janet Rankin was the first woman to sit in a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and women across the United States did not gain the right to vote until three years later, which shows janet Rankin's legend.
However, the real hallmark of her popularity does not stop there, janet Rankin voted the only vote against war in Congress during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in the past.
If being the first female congresswoman in the United States is a supreme honor for Janet Rankin, then the only vote in Pearl Harbor has plunged her into an endless abyss.
So what happened to Janet Langin, the only U.S. congresswoman who was attacked on Pearl Harbor and the only American congresswoman to vote against going to war?
Janet Rankin
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, after the "Pearl Harbor incident", voted against the war</h1>
On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft quietly crossed the mountains and seas and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and launched a surprise attack on the US military base.
Due to the sudden and unsuspecting situation of the US military, the Japanese aircraft carried out two waves of bombing on American battleships, cruisers and other military equipment, resulting in the direct destruction of four battleships, two destroyers, and 188 aircraft, and countless units were damaged.
At the same time, more than 2,400 Americans were killed in the surprise attack, and about 1,250 people were injured.
This result was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the United States, and some anger was inevitable, so the United States quickly declared war on Japan, and the "Pearl Harbor incident" became the fuse for the United States to intervene in World War II.
Under the American political system, before a president could declare war on another country, a resolution needed to be submitted to Congress and passed before it could be implemented, so Janet Rankin, who was a member of Congress at the time, also participated in the vote.
On the night of Pearl Harbor, Janet Rankin and her sister Edna learned about the situation at Pearl Harbor on the radio, but Janet Rankin did not comment on it, and it was painful to fall into silence.
Because Janet Rankin's itinerary included a speech in Detroit, she embarked on the train with a heavy heart, and along the way she received a notice that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would speak at a congressional meeting at noon on Monday.
Roosevelt
As a member of parliament, she changed the direction of her intended itinerary, changing trains in Pittsburgh and returning to Washington that night.
Along the way, Janet Rankin's phone rang constantly, and friends advised her that she "must not vote against the war this time", to which she responded that "I have enough reasons because the country has been attacked." "But then things didn't turn out that way.
The streets of Washington were packed with visitors who, to avoid Janet Rankin, drove alone to Congress, plunging her into chaos and anguish along the way, to which she described as "driving to my execution."
Janet Rankin rushed to Congress as scheduled, and President Roosevelt delivered a speech as scheduled, in which he demanded that Congress declare war on Japan after some rhetoric such as "America will live in a day of shame..."
Since then, in the process of discussion among the parliamentarians, the voices supporting the declaration of war have become the main theme, while the voices opposing the declaration of war are only as lonely as Janet Rankin.
However, all the members of the meeting, including Speaker Sam Reben, selectively ignored her voice and opinion, but even so, when Janet Rankin's name was called at the time of the vote, she firmly said "no" in the eyes of the crowd.
As a result, the House of Representatives voted 388 in favor, 41 abstentions, and 1 against, while the Senate had no vote against, so that Janet Rankin's vote in this congressional vote became the only vote against.
This single vote had no effect on the established outcome of the U.S. declaration of war on Japan, but it had a turning effect on Janet Rankin's life and a break in her political career.
After leaving Congress, Janet Rankin was surrounded by countless journalists and others, mocking boos swirling in her ears, and a young officer loudly condemning her...
As a last resort, Janet Rankin had no choice but to call the police, and then returned to the office escorted by the police.
Back at the office, Janet Rankin immediately issued a voice on the matter, which reads as follows:
"While I believe that what was known on the radio, along with the rest of the House, may be true, I still believe that there should be more real evidence than radio reports that such a major vote is directly related to the future peace or war in our country."
"We support every measure that means protecting our land, but sending our armies to fight and die on distant battlefields thousands of miles away is not in the premise of protecting our shores."
"We have the right to clash with Japan, and if so I believe all the facts should be handed over to Congress and the American people, and in today's vote, I just voted my own faith and fulfilled my campaign promises..."
All in all, Janet Rankin said she was never opposed to national defense and that the president had the right to order the military to defend us on our territory without congressional approval.
However, even with the defense, Janet Rankin's vote still set off a storm in her life, such as the original supporter Montana Republican Chairman called on her to withdraw her vote to save Montana's reputation, there were many telegrams that used vicious and filthy words to attack her, and the angry brother called "Montana is 100% against you"...
In essence, however, for Janet Rankin, the consequences of this vote had long been anticipated, and history was always strikingly similar, perhaps as early as the vote of the First World War in the past on whether the United States should enter the war, which was already destined to have this vote today.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, behind the only negative vote</h1>
The only objection to why Janet Rankin cast a direct reference was to the pacifism she had always adhered to.
As early as 1910, when Janet Rankin spoke with Minnie Reynolds, the mentor of her electoral movement, the two agreed on the issue of war, "pacifism should be part of women's suffrage." "Women give birth to boys, and men take them away and kill them in war."
That's why Janet Rankin has always maintained such pacifism, both during the electoral process and after becoming a member of parliament.
So in the vote on whether the United States participated in World War I, she still opposed participating in the war because she believed that the vote was a commercial war for some people.
But she also gave a buffer: "I will listen to those who want war to happen, and if I can find a reason to go to war, I will try to make a change." 」 ”
Thus, in the two congressional roll call, the first time Janet Rankin did not answer, and the second time she stood up and said in a trembling voice, "I want to support my country, but I can't vote for war, I vote against." ”
Apparently, in the words of those who supported the war, she did not find a reason to convince herself.
The vote was 373 votes in favor and 59 against, but Janet Langin's vote, the only woman among the voters, still attracted widespread attention.
Scenes like the ones mentioned above, which had been staged after the end of this vote, had a deep blow to her heart and directly affected her subsequent election defeat.
Therefore, the only vote in the "Pearl Harbor incident" is essentially a repetition of the previous vote, but this time alone against the trend, it is obviously more miserable than before.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > three, janet Rankin's ending</h1>
The only vote for Pearl Harbor affected not only her reputation, but more immediately the abrupt end of her political life.
It was still a year before Janet Rankin's term ended, a year when she had clearly nothing to do, and the previous speech events she had been invited to participate in every three to five years were now contrary to her.
As for whether she can be re-elected, Janet Rankin does not dare to have the slightest luxury, and now that she is notorious, she has obviously not been able to find enough supporters to guarantee her re-election.
However, in the course of only one year, even in the face of embarrassing circumstances, she still fulfilled her duties, such as opposing the extension of civil service retirement benefits to the president and Congress, believing that retirement benefits should only be provided to their elected people after all citizens had retirement benefits.
In 1942 Janet Rankin ended her political career as scheduled, and years later, when asked if she regretted that vote, she confessed never.
Over the next fifteen to twenty years, Janet Rankin embarked on a aimless journey across the globe, one of the main destinations of which was India, hoping to find new inspiration from the pacifist teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in India.
In January 1968, the Jeannette Rankin Brigade, a coalition of women's groups, organized an anti-war march in Washington, D.C., the largest women's march since the 1913 women's suffrage march, against the Vietnam War.
Janet Rankin was also involved in the march, leading more than 5,000 participants up the steps of the Capitol and handing over a peace petition.
The launch of this march once again gained widespread support for Janet Rankin, who had faded from public view for many years, while the traces of the past years had long since faded into the hearts of the people.
Janet Rankin, who is in her 90s, considered whether to run for a third House of Representatives campaign, but a chronic throat and heart condition caused her to abandon the campaign.
Janet Rankin died on May 18, 1973, in Carmel, California, at the age of 92.
After her death, her estate was donated in full according to her will, and the Janet Langin Foundation was established to help "mature unemployed women workers".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >4</h1>
Regarding the correctness of Janet Rankin's only vote in "Pearl Harbor", it is far from being judged by outsiders, but through her repeated references to "commercial war" and other words, it is not difficult to glimpse what she is opposed to.
And to sum up Janet Rankin's life, perhaps the Rankin Monument, which was displayed in washington in 1985 at the National Statue Hall in Washington, D.C., would be the best illustration, with the inscription "I Cannot Vote for War."
And for Janet Rankin herself, she once said, "The reason I want people to remember me is that the only woman who voted for women was the right to vote." ”