1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [106]
Rankin, Jeannette (1880–1973) Rankin was elected the first woman member of Congress, serving as a representative from Montana from 1917 to 1919 and from 1941 to 1943. She was a feminist crusader and an absolute pacifist. In 1917, she was one of only 49 members to vote against the declaration of war against Germany (World War I) and in 1941 was the only member not to vote “yea” on the declaration against Japan (World War II).
Rauschenberg, Robert (1925– ) Rauschenberg burst onto the modern art scene with radical all-white paintings—essentially blank surfaces—in 1951, which were followed by a series of “Black Paintings” and “Red Paintings,” which incorporated found objects attached to the canvas. Increasingly, Rauschenberg added three-dimensional found objects to his paintings, completely obliterating the distinction between painting and sculpture. Because Rauschenberg’s assemblages often featured the detritus of popular culture, he is credited as a forerunner of Pop Art. As his work challenges the traditional distinction between sculpture and painting, so it raises questions of just what it is that constitutes art.
Rayburn, Sam (1882–1961) Texas Democrat Rayburn served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1913 to 1961, 17 of those years as speaker. A champion of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, he was a mentor to generations of young members of Congress and was valued by four presidents—FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy—as a blunt and knowledgeable adviser.
Reagan, Ronald W. (1911–2004) Reagan grew up in small-town Illinois. After fulfilling his initial ambition to be a radio sports announcer, he went to Hollywood and became a popular B-level actor. When his film career waned, he worked on television. Reagan’s presidency of the Screen Actors Guild piqued his interest in politics, and although he had been a Democrat for much of his life, his increasing attraction to a conservative orientation during the 1950s drew him to the Republican Party and, in particular, to its Conservative wing. In 1966, he defeated the popular Democratic incumbent Pat Brown for the governorship of California and served two terms. He was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate in 1980, then easily defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter. Reagan’s was an affable, optimistic White House presence, which exuded a confidence reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He introduced a new patriotism and a new approach to the economy, which favored business, cut taxes, and diminished the welfare state. In foreign policy, Reagan was widely credited with bringing about the downfall of Soviet communism.
Red Cloud (1822–1909) During 1865–1867 Red Cloud, chief of the Oglala Teton Sioux, led a highly successful resistance to the federal government’s attempt to develop the Bozeman Trail as a route to the gold fields of Montana. Thanks to Red Cloud’s efforts, the government concluded the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), which closed the trail and recognized various Indian rights. It was a rare triumph for Native Americans.
Reeb, James (1927–1965) Born in Wichita, Kansas, Reeb was a white minister of the Unitarian church, who participated in a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) demonstration in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. He was among the demonstrators attacked by a white mob on March 8, a date known as Bloody Sunday. Savagely beaten and clubbed, Reeb sustained severe head trauma and died in the hospital on March 10. His grisly death reverberated through the nation, raised the northern white consciousness, and increased the volume of condemnation against the racism of the South.
Reed, John (1887–1920) Reed grew up in a privileged Portland, Oregon, family and became active as a journalist covering leftwing politics. He increasingly