Draft Lottery Reform Attempts to Address Class Inequality After College Deferments Shield Wealthy from Vietnam Service

The Selective Service System conducts its first draft lottery since 1942 at its Washington D.C. headquarters in response to widespread criticism that the draft systematically favors wealthy and educated Americans. Of the 2.5 million enlisted men serving in Vietnam, 80% come from poor or working-class families, and the same ratio possess only high school education. American forces in Vietnam are 55% working-class, 25% poor, and only 20% middle-class, reflecting profound class inequities in who serves and dies.

College deferments function as the primary mechanism enabling privileged Americans to avoid service. Educational deferments account for the majority of more than 15 million men who legally evade conscription during the Vietnam era. College graduates are approximately 6.5 times less likely to serve in Vietnam than other civilians of the same generation, while high school dropouts are twice as likely to serve. At the outbreak of war, Harvard students and other college attendees automatically receive draft status 2-S—deferment for postsecondary education—effectively providing a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for those opposed to the war who can afford higher education.

The lottery system uses 366 blue plastic capsules containing calendar dates placed in a large glass container, with capsules drawn sequentially and assigned rising numbers. Congressman Alexander Pirnie draws the first number: “September 14th…001.” However, the process proves flawed—capsules were placed in the box month by month from January through December, and insufficient mixing causes November and December births to cluster in lower draft order numbers representing earlier calls to serve. Despite resounding statistical evidence of bias, courts rule the process legally fair and reject requests to redo the lottery. The fundamental class inequality persists: even when affluent Americans serve, they are least likely to see combat, and occupational deferments continue to favor upscale fields throughout the war.