This is such a powerful look at a strong, often overlooked woman who took on the political world and made a difference for us all. It is a must read for all women to understand how hard and costly the struggle was so that women today have full rights and the political power we enjoy and often take for granted.

Jeannette Rankin, the daughter of a wealthy Montana mill owner, grew up in the rough and tumble life of frontier America. A gifted orator, Jeannette fought for women’s rights, peace, labor organizations and child welfare. In 1916, she became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. However, her vote against WWI ensured that she was not re-elected. She spent the rest of her life fighting for causes, while history only remembered her war time vote.

Jeannette was a very interesting historical figure. She fought for her beliefs in a time where women’s voices were not heard. The first half of the book was riveting, I wanted to know more. The second half of the book was a bit more slow moving and seemed to go on and on. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

I'd like to begin with the blurb from Goodreads.
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Born on a Montana ranch in 1880, Jeannette Rankin knew how to drive a tractor, ride a horse, make a fire, and read the sky for weather. But most of all, she knew how to talk to people, how to convince them of her vision for America. It was this rare skill that led her, in 1916, to become the first woman ever elected to the House of Representatives.

As her first act, Rankin introduced the legislation that would become the 19th Amendment. Throughout her two terms in 1916 and 1940, she continued to introduce and pass legislation benefitting unions, protecting workers, and increasing aid for children in poverty. In 1941, she stood tall as the sole anti-war voice in Congress during WWII, advocating for pacifism in the face of tragedy and stating that you can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.

A suffragist, feminist, peace activist, workers' rights advocate, progressive, and Republican, Rankin remained ever true to her beliefs—no matter the price she had to pay personally. Yet, despite the momentous steps she made for women in politics, overcoming the boys club of capitalists and career politicians who never wanted to see a woman in Congress, Jeannette Rankin’s story has been largely forgotten. In Winning the Earthquake, Lorissa Rinehart deftly uncovers the compelling history behind this singular American hero, bringing her story back to life.
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I must admit that I didn't recognise the name, Jeannette Rankin. And I feel embarrassed that I didn't know about her and her family.

This should be a textbook in a women's studies class. Sadly, for me, it was more informative and less gripping. I wonder if having narrators would pull me in more? Perhaps as a movie, it would be the best way to convey this information. I wanted to like the book more. We need to know more about the women who did important work in America. We need more than His-story about men and their wars.

Maybe my problem is that I've been enjoying the Maisie Dobbs mystery novels and wish that kind of writing could be used to tell this important story. It's probably just me, and how my brain processes knowledge.

Still, I was glad that NetGalley allowed me to read this on Kindle, with Text-to-Speech.

This book is timely and outstanding. Jeannette Rankin is remembered, if at all, as the first woman elected to Congress (in 1917 at age 37), and much of Rinehart’s project is to restore Rankin to her rightful place in the nation’s history. She lost that place in part due to unpopular votes in her two stints in Congress (though her terms were more than 20 years apart, she pretty much debuted both times with anti-war votes—WWI & WWII). Her vote against entering WWI also alienated her further from the leaders of the suffrage movement; she was never recognized at the center of that group, though she did an enormous amount to advance the cause, particularly in securing the vote for women in Washington state, Montana, and other states.

Rankin had the hardscrabble determination and tireless work ethic of her homesteading upbringing in Montana; even after her family accumulated great wealth, she always worked, and often in menial roles (from seamstress and nanny to handyman). She also had great business acumen and played an important role in her father’s enterprises. As Rinehart notes, Rankin consistently seemed “almost comically unaware” of her own talent and achievements.

While quite young, she taught herself a great deal about the Constitution and the ins and outs of law and policy making. She persisted through sexism, vitriol, significant health challenges, ostracism, a failed Senate campaign, and a reversal of financial fortune. She focused relentlessly throughout her life on advancing women’s rights (including successfully deposing the Director of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving for sexual harassment and helping the women employees there form their first union) and labor rights (including improving working conditions and seeking to ban child labor); fighting monopolies; promoting women and children’s health and food safety; advancing Native American rights; promoting peace (including helping develop a blueprint for the League of Nations); abolishing the Electoral College; and introducing ranked choice voting. She was also a founder of the ACLU. She was a shrewd strategist and skilled organizer and orator, equally at home in a sewing circle, on a soapbox on a street corner (literally, she travelled with her own soap box), or speaking in the state house or Congress. Having largely left public life for some time, she returned in the 60s to oppose the Vietnam War, appropriately bookending her career by organizing a women’s anti-war march in Washington that was the largest since the 1913 Suffrage Parade. Much of her work has almost startling relevance today, and Rankin’s example inspires fortitude and persistence.

Rinehart notes that many of Rankin’s papers were unfortunately lost or destroyed. And there was a false start in the 60s, when academics and others developed a renewed interest in her, but inexplicably none of the theses, dissertations, and books for which she sat for interviews were never published. Congratulations to Rinehart for righting that wrong and so effectively reconstructing Rankin’s story.