Welcome to the Weekly History Thread! This is the first one of these for the new site and I hope it’s as fun and informative as everyone as you can.

Today’s topic: Politics and elections. It’s Election Day here in many parts of the United States, so let’s discuss historical politics and elections. Are there any historical political campaigns in your home country or location that are worth remembering? Any politicians of the past you admire or respect? Perhaps some you loathe?

Today’s picture: 101 years ago today, Jeannette Rankin won election to the US House of Representatives. A Montana Republican, Rankin was the first American woman elected to Congress, at a time when women were still not able to vote in many states across the country. Rankin had an extraordinary career as a progressive activist (back when progressive Republicans were still a thing), fighting for women’s suffrage, racial equality, labor reform and other issues, but she’s best remembered for her pacifism; she was the only person to vote against the American entries into both world wars. Widely vilified and criticized for both actions (especially the Second), today she’s generally remembered as a remarkable woman of principle whose Congressional career was the mere tip of an iceberg. Read more about her here:  http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-(R000055)/

And because it’s not a Spiro post without shameless self-promotion: if you haven’t read it yet, see my first Watergate article here.