August
19, 1964 - Clinton registers for the draft--[Washington
Post Sep 13 92]
September 1964
- Clinton, age 18, enters Georgetown
University --[The Comeback Kid, CF Allen and J Portis, p. 20]
November 17, 1964
- Clinton is classified 2-S (student deferment) "which would shield him
from the draft throughout his undergraduate years."---[Wash Post Sep 13
92]
February 16, 1968
- "The Johnson administration unexpectedly
abolished graduate deferments."--[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
March 20, 1968
- Clinton, age 21, is classified
1-A, eligible for induction, as he nears graduation from Georgetown. --[Wash
Post Sep 13 92]
Comment: "The Los Angeles Times found that
the future Arkansas governor was the only man of his prime draft age classified
1-A by that board in 1968 whose pre-induction physical examination was
put off for 10.5 months -- more than twice as long as anyone else and more
than five times longer than most area men of comparable eligibility." [Los
Angeles Times Sep 02 92]
Summer 1968
- Political and family influence
keeps Clinton out of the draft. Robert Corrado -- the only surviving Hot
Springs draft board member from that period -- concluded that Clinton's
draft statement (the long delays) was the result of "some form of preferential
treatment." According to the Times, "Corrado recalled that the chairman
of the three-man draft panel ... once held back Clinton's file with the
explanation that 'we've got to give him time to go to Oxford,' where the
term began in the fall of 1968.
"Corrado also complained that he was called
by an aide to then-Sen. J. William Fulbright urging him and his fellow
board members to 'give every consideration' to keep Clinton out of the
draft so he could attend Oxford.
"Throughout the remainder of 1968, Corrado
said, Clinton's draft file was routinely held back from consideration by
the full board. Consequently, although he was classified 1-A on March 20,
1968, he was not called for his physical exam until Feb 3, 1969, when he
was at Oxford."
Clinton's Uncle Raymond Clinton personally
lobbied Sen Fulbright, William S. Armstrong, the chairman of the three-man
Hot Springs draft board, and Lt. Cmdr. Trice Ellis, Jr., commanding officer
of the local Navy reserve unit, to obtain a slot for Clinton in the Naval
Reserve.
Clinton secured a "standard enlisted man's
billet, not an officer's slot which would have required Clinton to serve
two years on active duty beginning within 12 months of his acceptance."
This Navy Reserve assignment was "created especially for the young Clinton
at a time in 1968 when no existing reserve slots were open in his hometown
unit."
According to the LA Times, "after about
two weeks waiting for Bill Clinton to arrive for his preliminary interview
and physical exam, Ellis said he called (Clinton's uncle) Raymond to inquire
- 'What happened to that boy?' According to Ellis, Clinton's uncle replied
- 'Don't worry about it. He won't be coming down. It's all been taken care
of.' " --[LA Times Sep 02 92]
Fall 1968
- Because of the local draft board's
continuing postponement of his pre-induction physical, Clinton is able
to enroll at Oxford Univ. --[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
February 2, 1969
- While at Oxford, Clinton finally
takes and passes a military physical examination.--[Washington Times Sep
18 92]
April 1969
- Clinton receives induction notice
from the Hot Springs AR draft board. Clinton, however claims that the draft
board told him to ignore the notice because it arrived after the deadline
for induction. --[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
June-July 1969
- Clinton receives a second induction
notice with a July 28 induction date and returns home. --[Wash Times Sep
18 92]
July 11, 1969
- Clinton's friend at Oxford, Cliff
Jackson, writes that "Clinton is feverishly trying to find a way to avoid
entering the Army as a drafted private. I have had several of my friends
in influential positions trying to pull strings on Bill's behalf." -- [LA
Times Sep 26 92]
Clinton benefitted from yet another lobbying
campaign in order to evade this induction notice. "Democratic presidential
candidate Bill Clinton, who has said he did not pull strings to avoid the
Vietnam-era draft, was able to get his Army induction notice canceled in
the summer of 1969 after a lobbying effort directed at the Republican head
of the state draft agency."
Arrangements were made for Clinton to meet
with Col. Williard A. Hawkins who "was the only person in Arkansas with
authority to rescind a draft notice. ... The apparently successful appeal
to Hawkins was planned while Clinton was finishing his first year as a
Rhodes scholar in England. Clinton's former friend and Oxford classmate,
Cliff Jackson -- now an avowed political critic of the candidate -- said
it was pursued immediately upon Clinton's return to AR in early July 1969
to beat a Jul 28 deadline for induction."-- [LA Times Sep 26 92]
Comment: Jackson's statement is contrary
to Clinton's repeated assertions that he received no special treatment
in avoiding military service. "(I) never received any unusual or favorable
treatment." [LA Times Sep 02 92]
August 7, 1969
- Clinton is reclassified 1-D after
he arranges to enter the ROTC program at the University of Arkansas. --[Wash
Post Sep 13 92]
According to Cliff Jackson, Clinton's Oxford
classmate, Clinton used the ROTC program to "kill the draft notice, to
avoid reporting on the July 28 induction date, which had already been postponed.
And he did that by promising to serve his country in the ROTC, number one,
to enroll in the law school that fall ... and he never enrolled." --[Wash
Times Sep 17 92]
Comment - Clinton's admission into the
ROTC program again runs contrary to his repeated statements that he received
no special treatment in order to evade military service. Col Eugene Holmes,
commander of the UArk ROTC program, said Clinton was admitted after pressure
from the Hot Springs draft board and the office of Sen J. William Fulbright
(D-AR).
Again, Clinton was receiving preferential
treatment. In addition, records from the Army reveal that Clinton was not
legally eligible for the ROTC program at that time. Army regulations required
recruits to be enrolled at the university and attending classes full-time
before being admitted to an ROTC program.
Fall 1969
- Clinton returns to Oxford for
a scond year.
Clinton was supposed to be at the Arkansas
Law School. However, according to Cliff Jackson, "Sen. Fulbright's office
and Bill himself continued to exert tremendous pressure on poor Col. Holmes
to get him [Clinton] to go back to Oxford."--[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
September 14,
1969 - The _Arkansas Gazette_,
published in Little Rock, headlined a draft suspension was reportedly planned
by the President.
Comment - The article, citing a source,
said Selective Service reforms when implemented, would only permit the
conscription of 19-year-old men. In addition, the source said "the Army
would send to Vietnam only enlistees, professional soldiers, and those
draftees who volunteered to go." The source contended that these reforms,
combined with troop withdrawals, "would put pressure on the Congress to
enact draft legislation already proposed by the President ... and set up
a lottery to conscript only 19-year-old men," the _Gazette_ reported.
From his letter to Col. Holmes, it is very
likely that Clinton was in the US on Sep 14 69. He was 23 years old.
September 19,
1969 - "President Nixon,
facing turmoil on college campuses, suspended draft calls for November
and December of 1969 and said the October call would be spread out over
three months." --[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
The President also indicated that if the
Congress did not act to establish a lottery system, he would remove by
executive order the vulnerability to the draft of all men age 20 to 26.
Comment - Again, Clinton was 23 years old.
September-October
1969 - "At some point, Clinton
decided to make himself eligible for the draft and said in February 1992
his stepfather had acted in his behalf to accomplish this. Newsweek, attributing
the information to campaign officials, said this all happened in Oct 1969.
[Clinton spokesperson Betsey] Wright ... said she believed it took place
in September. The difference is potentially significant. ... If Clinton
did not act to give up his deferment until October, he could have known
he faced no liability from the draft until the following summer, that he
could take his chances with the lottery and find alternative service if
he got a low number." --[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
October 1, 1969
- "Nixon announced that anyone
in graduate school could complete the full year."--[Wash Post Sep 13 92]
Comment - Clinton is now safe from the
draft through June 1970.
October 1969
- President Nixon suspends call-up
of additional draftees until a draft lottery is held in December.
October 15, 1969
- Clinton organized and led anti-war demonstrations
in London.--
[Wash Times Sep 18 92]
Comment - According to McSorley, Clinton's
demonstrations "had the support of British peace organizations" such as
the British Peace Council, an arm of the KGB-backed World Peace Council.
October 30, 1969
- Clinton is reclassified 1-A,
eligible for induction. --[Wash Times Sep 28 92]
Comment - "Clinton said he put himself
into the draft by contacting his draft board in September or October and
asking to be reclassified 1-A. ... It is not clear, however, whether that
occurred at Clinton's urging or whether his failure to enroll at UArk automatically
cancelled his 1-D deferment."
Clinton has never produced any evidence
to substantiate his claim that he initiated his reclassification.
November 16, 1969
- Clinton
organized and led anti-war demonstrations in London.
December 1, 1969
- Clinton draws #311 in the first
draft lottery. --[Wash Times Sep 18 92]
Comment - Clinton was virtually assured
that he would not be drafted because of the high lottery number.
December 3, 1969
- While still in England, Clinton
writes to Col. Eugene Holmes, , commander of the UArk ROTC program and
states, "From my work I came to believe that the draft system is illegitimate
... I decided to accept the draft in spite of my beliefs for one reason
- to maintain my political viability." |