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But the career for which he will be remembered had not then begun, nor did it when he was elected a Representative in 1902. As a regular Republican he made his maiden speech on rural free delivery, declared that R.F.D., "touched with the magic wand of Republican encouragement and enthusiasm . . . has become a bright and living reality at the fireside of a million homes." The mainspring of his career between the era of R.F.D. and that of F.D.R. was an urge which gradually grew upon him. It took the form of insurgency and liberalism but it took other forms as well and at bottom it appeared to be an emotional objection to doing anything that was expected of him.
It made the milestones of his career and it was the touchstone of his success. It cropped out first in 1903. Contrary to usage, a member of the Democratic minority moved that Congress recess over Washington's Birthday. The haughty Republicans determined to defeat the motion. As a matter of course every member of the well-drilled Republican majority did what was expected of him, all except George Norris who voted with the Democrats.
Thereafter his insurgency gradually flowed into more useful channels but it did not become noteworthy until March of 1910. After waiting for days for a parliamentary opportunity, he suddenly produced a pocket-worn piece of paper bearing a resolution which would effectively deprive the Speaker of the House of his tsar-like authority. Speaker Joe Cannon declared it out of order. George Norris appealed to the House, rallied a coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans. The parliamentary battle was waged tirelessly for 36 hours during which Norris had no sleep. Then the vote was taken and the power of the Speaker was finally broken. It was George Norris' first great achievement and it made him famous overnight.
The same urge came over him in 1912. Regular Republican leaders offered to nominate him for Governor of Nebraska, but he divined that their purpose was to keep him from running for the Senate. So he did and was elected. The War offered him two opportunities to distinguish himself as an insurgent. In 1917 he was one of eleven Senators, Woodrow Wilson's "wilful men," who filibustered against the Armed Neutrality Bill. Nebraska newspapers scourged him for it. The outcry was tremendous. Norris waited two weeks and then asked the Governor to call a recall election so that he could be vindicated or ousted. The Governor refused, so George Norris went to Lincoln, hired a hall and, since he could get no one to introduce him, walked out on the platform and began to speak. A wildly enthusiastic crowd gave him his vindication. He then returned to Washington and became one of the famed six men (La Follette, Vardaman, Stone. Gronna, Lane. Norris) to vote against the declaration of war, declaring as he did so:
"I feel we are committing a sin against humanity and against our countrymen. I wish we might delay our action until reason could again be enthroned in the mind of man. I feel we are about to put the dollar mark upon the American flag."