Montana as Promised Land: Jeannette Rankin's Rhetoric of Western Boosterism

• In Event: Rhetorical Bodies, Critical Histories

Abstract

In Jeannette Rankin’s Carnegie Hall address of 1917, she introduced herself to the nation as America’s first congresswoman. In her address, she adopted the rhetoric of Western boosterism to explain her political success according to Montana’s numerous natural and political advantages. By boasting of Montana’s progress, Rankin positioned Montana as a model of progressive ideals and thus redefined political progress as a democracy that included women as citizens and political leaders.

Author

• Tiffany Lewis, University of Maryland