How conscription worked
The American draft in the 1960s was run by the Selective Service System, a federal agency whose director for many years was General Lewis B. Hershey. The law, in its modern form, dated from the period just before and after the Second World War and had been renewed repeatedly in peacetime. Men were required to register at the age of 18, and those who were called were typically taken between 19 and 25, with the oldest in the eligible pool being called first.
Decisions were made by local draft boards, of which there were thousands around the country. Board members were unpaid volunteers, usually local residents, and they had considerable discretion over how to classify the registrants in their area. Each man was given a classification. The best known was 1-A, meaning available for military service. Others covered students, men with dependents, those unfit for medical reasons, conscientious objectors and those in certain jobs.
The system was a source of both order and inconsistency. Because boards had latitude and local quotas differed, treatment of similar men could vary from one place to another. Those who knew the rules, or had access to advice, could often find legal ways to delay or avoid service.
Who was deferred
A large share of the pressure fell on men without the means or information to obtain a deferment. Several categories gave protection:
- Students. Men enrolled full time in college could receive a student deferment, usually classified as II-S, which was held as long as they remained in school and made satisfactory progress.
- Fathers. For much of the period, married men and those with children were less likely to be called, though the rules shifted over time.
- Medical and other exemptions. Physical and mental standards excluded some, and certain occupations judged important to the national interest could earn deferments.
- Conscientious objection. Men with sincere religious or moral objections to war could apply for status as conscientious objectors, though the standards were strict and evaluated case by case.
Student deferments were the most criticised. Because college attendance was more common among families with higher incomes, the system tended to favour the middle and upper classes and to place a heavier burden on working-class and poorer men, among whom Black and Hispanic men were over-represented in the draft pool relative to their share in college. Historians caution that the picture was more complicated than the simplest version of this story, since many men from every background served, and many volunteers enlisted to choose their branch or assignment. But the unfairness was widely felt and became a major political grievance.
The 1967 law
As the war grew, so did the demand for manpower. Draft calls rose sharply in 1965 and stayed high. The administration, aware of the criticism, commissioned a study of the system. A national advisory commission chaired by Burke Marshall reported in early 1967, and it argued for reforms, including a random selection system and the drafting of the youngest eligible men first, instead of the oldest.
Congress took a more conservative path. The Military Selective Service Act of 1967, signed by President Johnson on 30 June 1967, extended the draft authority for four more years. It kept the system of local boards, retained the undergraduate student deferment, and ended most deferments for graduate study, with exceptions for a few fields such as medicine and dentistry. The change meant that students who finished their undergraduate degrees would be more exposed to the draft than before. Lawmakers did not adopt the commission’s proposal for a lottery at that time.
Resistance and protest
The draft was a central focus of antiwar protests. Students and activists staged demonstrations at induction centres, burned or turned in draft cards, counselled young men about how to avoid or resist service, and, in some cases, fled abroad, often to Canada. Burning a draft card had been made a federal offence in 1965, and the Supreme Court upheld the law in 1968. Public figures also entered the argument. In April 1967 the boxer Muhammad Ali refused induction into the Army, an episode described in the account of the Ali draft refusal, and he was later convicted, though the Supreme Court eventually overturned the conviction.
In October 1967, in the days around the March on the Pentagon and other demonstrations, protesters turned in draft cards at several events. Selective Service officials responded harshly. Hershey was reported to have suggested that local boards might reclassify registrants who illegally interfered with the draft, which drew sharp criticism, including from some in Congress, who saw it as punishing political dissent.
The move toward a lottery
By 1968 and 1969, the draft was a defining issue for young Americans, and its inequities had become harder to defend. When Richard Nixon took office, his administration proposed changes, and Congress then allowed a random system. The first draft lottery was held on 1 December 1969, assigning order of call by birth date. Men born on each date were given a number, and those with low numbers were called first. A system that made the chance of being called more predictable and more evenly spread replaced one in which age and personal circumstance shaped the odds. Student deferments were later phased out for new entrants.
The draft itself ended in practice in 1973, when the United States moved to an all-volunteer force, after the withdrawal from the war.
Why it mattered in 1967
In 1967 the draft was the point at which the war entered the lives of ordinary families. It linked the debate about foreign policy to questions of fairness, class and personal choice. For a young man, the classification on a card might determine the path of the next several years. That is why the draft is inseparable from the broader story of antiwar protests and the changing mood of the country described in the survey of the Vietnam War in 1967.