Rankin retailer Lariat

The Rankin Lariat- Cast bolo tips, fabricated sliding centerpiece. Made from eco-sterling silver and leather. This leather choker necklace is named in honor of Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to hold national office in the US.

"If I had my life to live over, I would do it all again, but this time I would be nastier." - Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) became the first woman to hold national office in the United States when she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916 by the state of Montana (my home state) 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. A lifelong pacifist, she was one of 50 House members (total of 56 in both chambers) who opposed the war declaration of 1917, and the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Rankin was also instrumental in initiating the legislation that eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment, granting unrestricted voting rights to women; and she championed the causes of gender retailer equality and civil rights throughout a career that spanned more than six decades.