Clinton's Draft Deferrment

Bill Clinton entered Georgetown Universities School of Foreign Service in the fall of 1964 and upon entrance he was granted a student deferment . He finished his fo

Ultimately, it was the ROTC program at the University of Arkansas Law School that he chose as his course of action. The UA ROTC program was fairly unique in that it did not have quotas and was open to law students. After graduate deferments were eliminated, a sharp increase in the number of law students enrolling was observed. On July 16, Colonel Eugene Holmes, the director of the ROTC program was contacted regarding Clinton’s admission to the program. Both Senator Fullbright’s office and Governor Rockefeller’s office called and asked if anything could be done to help Clinton avoid the draft. Clinton was granted an interview with Col. Holmes to asses his eligibility to enter the program. The interview was intensive and lasted two hours or so. At this time, Clinton did not tell Holmes that he was opposed to the Vietnam War and that he was merely trying to avoid the draft. In a 1992 affadavit concerning Clinton’s alleged draft dodging, Holmes wrote:

ur years without incident, forming a close bond with a group of friends that he remained in contact throughout the rest of his life. It wasn’t until he began his term as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford that the draft had a significant impact on his life. On February 16, 1968, President Nixon and the National Security Council abolished the deferments for graduate students, so on March 20, Clinton was classified 1-A by the Garland Country Draft Board. In addition, the policy was in place to draft the oldest men before the youngest. The national advisory commission on selective service had proposed, during the Johnson administration, changing the policy on oldest first but it was left in place. Consequently, Clinton was among one of the most vulnerable groups at that time and found himself wondering what he would do about the draft. He subscribed to the belief that the draft “was ‘illegitimate’ because of its inflexibility.” In a letter to Col. Eugene Holmes he wrote, “From my work I came to believe that the draft system itself is illegitimate. No government really rooted in limited, parliamentary democracy should have the power to make its citizens fight and kill and die in a war they may oppose, a war which even possibly may be wrong, a war which, in any case, does not involve immediately the peace and freedom of the nation.”

In an eloquently written letter, Clinton details his reasons for not enrolling in the University of Arkansas ROTC program. He begins by admitting that he deliberately deceived Col. Holmes, not through any falsehoods but through omissions of his true feelings about the war and

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