Jeannette Pickering Rankin was the first woman to hold federal office in the United States when, in 1916, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by the state of Montana as a member of the Republican Party. She won a second House term 24 years later, in 1940.
Each of Rankin's Congressional terms coincided with initiation of U.S. military intervention in each of the World Wars.