I don’t know. You’re the one calling it draft dodging.
Other tidbit.
Of course we never were drafting women, but had women been eligible then Hillary would have been called up. Her birth date, October 26, 1947, gave her a draft number of 7. It was only the we-don’t-draft-women rule that kept her from being called up.
So criticizing Trump for taking advantage of student deferral and then a medical ineligibility which were part of the same package of rules that kept her from being drafted would have had the HRC campaign trying to walk a very fine line. Better just to leave it alone. It’s not like Trump wasn’t serving up other reasons to criticize him on an almost daily basis throughout the campaign.
Kerry and “W”
He joined the Naval Reserve to avoid being drafted. Served on a frigate one tour and then requested the Swift Boat duty since (as he freely admits) it was safer. In between his assignment and deployment, the operational situation had changed and it was dangerous now.
George W Bush. Applied to the ANG. Qualified to fly fighters, an inherently dangerous job. Even requested a Vietnam posting (his unit was sending pilots and planes to the region) and was turned down since he did not have enough hours in type.
Maybe, Kerry, is the brave man and Bush is a chickenhawk? Or maybe Kerry is a coward who ended up in combat despite his efforts and Bush did not see action despite being willing to.
I don’t think either interpretation is true. It was just…luck. Same way Trump might have run into a draft board which desperately needed numbers and declared him fit for service, bone spurs and all.
All in all, none of these men (nor Mr Clinton) would have been at much risk of being infantry soldiers, even if they were drafted, they were too highly educated to not be made officers and sent to some technical arm.
At the time, having any “advanced education” meant your were more likely to be able to type. There were far more men pounding typewriters than firing rifles. And at that time, very few young men just out of high school could type.
Reminds me of something I admired about Gore. He did his time in Saigon, as a journalist of sorts. Pretty rear echelon. But he never made anything of it. Certainly not as much as political expedience would have suggested. Of course, he didn’t seem to support Kerry and the anti-war vets as much as he could have, that was kinda weak. Still, some points for honor in the face of convenience and ambition.
Used his father’s influence to get into the National Guard to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam. Failed to meet his six year obligation that he signed in 1968. Sought discharge as soon as they started testing for cocaine.
Thank God. I can’t pretend to speak for my entire generation (especially those 15 years younger than me), but I know that in 2004 I, and a lot of people I knew in college, were absolutely sick of hearing about Vietnam when the country was actively in two shittily-run wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But hey, the Boomers and the media wanted to re-fight Vietnam, so that’s what got talked about.
We Boomers were really sick of Vietnam. Quite a few of us died of it; far more men than women, of course–but the women were all volunteers. Be glad your generation didn’t face the draft.
I knew guys who demonstrated against the war & saw their cases argued before the Supreme Court. I knew others who eagerly volunteered. More simply tried to stay in school–or just got got drafted & accepted it. Beyond the rare true pacifist, many of them were proud of our fathers’ fight against Fascism–but realized that the mess in Southeast Asia was a different sort of war.
What would Trump have to say about his generation’s war? (His own father had served by building government housing.) As someone who seems a bit too eager to start a war, his musings would be relevant. Given his verbal skills, they would be incoherent & embarrassing.
Men Trump’s age were eligible to be drafted during the year 1970. He was classified as 1-Y on 10/15/68. He was reclassified as 4-F on 2/1/72. During 1970, the first 195 birthdates of draft-eligible men were called up. Trump’s birthdate was 356 of 366 possible birthdates. Regardless of Trump’s classification, he would not have been called up.
Yes.
Is that the right answer? I’m not sure what response you’re looking for here. You seem to feel we’re having an argument but I don’t know what it’s about.
Not having read all the posts, I’ll still venture a thought. My question is whether modern era military service has improved the chances of election for any statewide or national candidate. I think Illinois’ senator is a case in point, but are there any others?
Soldiers, too, can’t be all that happy with the treatment afforded them by the R’s over the last 15 years or so.
Is military service, even to ex-soldiers, as much of an honor as it may have been? Why so many suicides? Since so many men and women these days see the services as an opportunity for skills and education, how many join out of patriotism? How many get deployed and see what soldiering is really like? “You don’t want to know the truth!”
Part of the issue is that Gen X and Millenials simply weren’t taught about the socioeconomic ramifications of the Viet Nam era draft versus the WWII draft. Hell, we weren’t taught ***anything ***about the Viet Nam era. What I know is due to having a Viet Nam Vet father and doing a lot of reading.
Basically, the problem I have is that the draft disproportionately affected the poor and lower-class; they couldn’t afford a doctor to claim 4-F status for them and really couldn’t afford college.
Just a generation earlier, everyone was expected to do their part. George Bush Sr. and JFK both were in active service. NOT doing your part was social death. This norm has since died and I think it makes it easier for chickenhawk politicians to blithely start military operations as they have zero idea of the costs down the road to real human beings.
Ultimately, the reason why ANYTHING about a candidate isn’t attacked with one, but is attacked with another, is simple: the people conducting the attacks, actually don’t give a crap about the issue they are pretending to be so righteous about. All they care about is beating their opponent.
Republicans attack DEMOCRATS who have abortions, or who support friends who do; and Democrats attack REPUBLICANS who treat women like sex objects; but neither group attacks THEIR OWN people who do those things, because none of them actually care about the issue itself. And they prove that by NOT attacking everyone for it, and being partisan all the time.
Another aspect to this particular subject area, which is even more significant I think, is that it’s gone out of fashion to attack people for avoiding the draft. It’s just been too long since there WAS a draft. That’s all. All kinds of things that used to be considered a big deal are over.
When I was very young, it was still considered VERY important that the President not be divorced. The main reason why Nelson Rockefeller never got anywhere close to being President, despite great fame and other political support, was because he was divorced. Nowadays, I think a guy would have to have been convicted of murdering his wife in cold blood, AND the wife would have to be proven to have been a true saint, for the guy to have to step down.
The only way bringing up Trump’s draft avoidance could’ve possibly benefited Clinton would’ve been if she’d had the foresight to join the WAC or been a military nurse.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Well, she claimed that she tried to join the Marines, or possibly the Army, but was rejected. She was 27 at the time and about to marry Bill.
It might even be true.
Regards,
Shodan
Perhaps the point of the exercise was to highlight military discrimination against women? She’s known to have some views on that.
Note to Shodan: Daily Caller is so last week. The cool kids in the Tighty Righty Club are all about Infowars, these days.
But the OP specified that he was wondering why this wasn’t used against him in the PRIMARIES, which I think is a good question. Seems to me that those attacks would work much better in a GOP primary than in a general election.
Either I’ve mercifully forgotten most of the Republican field or am not sufficiently familiar with their records. Who had standing to use it against him? McCain wasn’t running this time. I don’t think the attack would have traction coming from someone who came of military age post-draft.