Jeanette Rankin, elected in 1916 and again in 1940, was the first woman elected to the United States Congress. At the beginning of her first term, women did not even have the universal right to vote in the U.S.
"If I am remembered for no other act," Rankin said, "I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote.”
In addition to being a champion for women’s rights, Rankin was an outspoken pacifist. She voted against U.S. entry into both World War I and II. After her vote against entering WWI, Rankin asserted her opinion as a woman. "I felt the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war, she should say it."
When Rankin voted against entering WWII after the Imperial Japanese Navy had attacked Pearl Harbor, Rankin voiced her opinion while many Congressman booed and hissed at her. "As a woman I can't go to war," she said, "and I refuse to send anyone else."
When Rankin died in 1973, she was considering running for a third term in Congress to oppose the raging war in Vietnam. Rankin died as an enduring champion for women's rights and an unyielding opponent of war.
-Excerpted from "A Woman's History" by Martha Jefferson
Which information is implicit in the passage?
The war in Vietnam was not popular with the American public.
Women were not allowed to participate in combat in World War II.
Rankin was a champion for women's rights and an outspoken pacifist.
Jeanette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.