# Why wasn't Trump hammered more about the Vietnam draft? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 23, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049 "2017-04-23T04:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/21 "2017-04-24T13:10:45Z")
Because he ran as a Republican. A Democrat can have two Purple Hearts and get chastised for being insufficiently patriotic but Republicans have an absolute free pass. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/22 "2017-04-25T02:09:08Z")
It’s a double standard. It’s okay for conservative Repubs who were of draft age in the Vietnam Era to have avoided military service as long as then didn’t go to Canada or desert. If you had parents with a wallet, it was easy to stay in college and find a doctor who could find something medically wrong enough with you. And there was the National Guard and Reserves. The line of guys wanting to join the Coast Guard Reserves went around the block twice. > [@](#): > > I’ve got a dislocated disc and a wracked up back > I’m allergic to flowers and bugs > And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits > And I’m addicted to a thousand drugs > I got the weakness woes, I can’t touch my toes > I can hardly reach my knees > And if the enemy came close to me > I’d probably start to sneeze > > I’m only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen > And I always carry a purse > I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat, and my asthma’s getting worse > Yes, think of my career, my sweetheart dear, and my poor old invalid aunt > Besides, I ain’t no fool, I’m a-goin’ to school > And I’m working in a DEE-fense plant ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/23 "2017-04-25T12:29:25Z")
Nobody was drafted from my birth year, 1954, or any later years. The last birth cohort from which anyone was drafted was either 1952 or 1953. The election was in 2016. You do the arithmetic. And of course, Obama was born in 1961; the draft had been gone for several years by the time he came of age. So we’d had eight years already where the draft had been off the table as a political issue in Presidential politics. It wasn’t going to come back in 2016 with most of the electorate having never had to worry about being drafted. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/24 "2017-04-25T12:54:34Z")
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the view of conscription as a serious civil rights violation was now very mainstream. If that’s the case, it could end up backfiring on a candidate who tried to bring it up. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/25 "2017-04-26T17:27:43Z")
Does anyone else suspect that Hillary \*\*Clinton \*\*saying “A draft dodger shouldn’t be President!” might backfire just a trace? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/26 "2017-04-26T18:08:18Z")
What a fascinating hypothetical! And when pigs fly, will more people buy umbrellas? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/27 "2017-04-26T18:45:11Z")
My draft card was hand-printed. On goatskin. Of course no one in the village, except the priest, could read anyway! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/28 "2017-04-26T18:48:53Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Does anyone else suspect that Hillary \*\*Clinton \*\*saying “A draft dodger shouldn’t be President!” might backfire just a trace? > > Regards, > Shodan But if the draft-dodger is on your side, it’s alright. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/29 "2017-04-27T12:44:42Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > But if the draft-dodger is on your side, it’s alright. Yes, this is exactly what people would say if Hillary tried to attack Trump for draft-dodging. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/30 "2017-04-27T13:31:19Z")
My view of “draft dodging,” never included 4F – unless the 4F determination arose from fraud. In fact, fraud or failure to report were the only things I’d consider “dodging.” Getting a high number isn’t; joining the Coast Guard isn’t; getting a student deferment isn’t. In my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/31 "2017-04-27T14:16:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > My view of “draft dodging,” never included 4F – unless the 4F determination arose from fraud. In fact, fraud or failure to report were the only things I’d consider “dodging.” Getting a high number isn’t; joining the Coast Guard isn’t; getting a student deferment isn’t. > > In my opinion. Sort of like tax evasion vs. tax avoidance, sure. But of course there is always the subjective view of abuse and that those lawful loopholes were not available to Joe Average. Some dude gets repeated deferments of different categories as he runs out of elegibilities, or played varsity sports but the day after graduation has some never before known disqualifying disability, and one may not feel too sympathetic. The son of a political leader finding a do-nuthin’ billet in the NG when the regular line to get in goes around the block, will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Of course the fix should have been having some sort of true Universal Service, but that’s all academic now. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/32 "2017-04-27T16:32:33Z")
I actually was born\* past the point where the draft was happening when I was 18, but I’m sure I would have used any excuse I could come up with to not go. If my daddy was a political big shot, I’d have been happy to have him pull strings to get me out of going. In that sense, I try not t be too critical of what anyone did back then. It was a horrible, horrible war that wasted the lives of too many people (Americans and non-Americans). I can remember in my younger teenage years thinking: No way am I going to Vietnam. No way!! \*1956 ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/33 "2017-04-27T19:05:05Z")
According to an Extract of Registrant Classification Record posted by thesmokinggun dot com, Trump was originally classified 2-S (student deferment) on 7/28/64. Once again classified as 2-S on 12/14/65 Reclassified as 1-A (eligible for military service) on 11/22/66 Reclassified as 2-S three weeks later on 12/13/66 Again classified as 2-S on 1/16/68 Reclassified as 1-A on 7/9/68 Reclassified as 1-Y (deemed qualified for military service only in time of national emergency) on 10/15/68 Reclassified as 4-F (medically unfit for miltary service) on 2/1/72 The results for the Armed Forces Physical Examination dated 12/15/66; 9/17/68 is listed as DISQ (disqualified). > **[Trump Draft Deferment](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/trump-draft-deferment)** > > Trump Draft Deferment All of that makes for interesting reading, but the fact remains that Trump’s draft number in the year that he was eligible to be drafted was 356 and only the first 195 birthdates were called up. > **[Draft lottery (1969)](https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Draft_lottery_(1969))** > > On December 1, 1969, the Selective Service System of the United States conducted two lotteries to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for men born from 1944 to 1950. These lotteries occurred during "the draft" — a... > **[Vietnam Lotteries | Selective Service System](https://www.sss.gov/history-and-records/vietnam-lotteries/)** Regardless of Trump’s classification, draft-eligible men born on June 14th were not drafted. How do you dodge a draft that did not draft you? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/34 "2017-04-27T20:11:44Z")
The answer is that Vietnam no longer matters. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/35 "2017-04-27T22:22:23Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yes, this is exactly what people would say if Hillary tried to attack Trump for draft-dodging. And other people would say, correctly in my opinion, that it would be hypocritical for Hillary Clinton to condemn Donald Trump for evading the draft after she condoned her husband having done it. Draft evasion either disqualified both men from being President or it disqualified neither man. Of course, this is hypothetical. Hillary Clinton did not make Trump’s draft record a campaign issue. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/36 "2017-04-27T22:28:15Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Regardless of Trump’s classification, draft-eligible men born on June 14th were not drafted. How do you dodge a draft that did not draft you? Trump didn’t dodge the draft. He evaded the draft. The same is true of Bill Clinton. Both men took advantage of legal exemptions to avoid military service. That’s draft evasion. Draft dodging is breaking the law to avoid military service. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/37 "2017-04-27T22:42:26Z")
Maybe I’m just ignorant but how is being medically disquallified doging the draft? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/38 "2017-04-27T22:48:12Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Maybe I’m just ignorant but how is being medically disquallified doging the draft? The presumption is that the medical condition was trumped up. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/39 "2017-04-27T23:36:09Z")
If ever you _were_ in a position to scold bad puns, you are no longer. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049/40 "2017-04-27T23:42:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The presumption is that the medical condition was trumped up. > [@elucidator](#): > > If ever you _were_ in a position to scold bad puns, you are no longer. One of us! Gobble, gobble. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-trump-hammered-more-about-the-vietnam-draft/785049.md?page=3)