Jan 9, 2026
Bill clinton service exemption
Bill Clinton did not serve in Vietnam and avoided induction through a sequence of legal deferments, a contested brief ROTC pledge and ultimately a high draft-lottery number that kept him from being ca...
Draft lottery
The impact of the draft lottery on Bill Clinton's induction into the military
Fact-Checks
3 resultsJan 9, 2026
What were Bill Clinton’s, George W. Bush’s, and John McCain’s draft or service records and how were they politically used?
Bill Clinton received student deferments, studied at Oxford, entered the 1969 draft but drew a high lottery number and was never called — a sequence confirmed by contemporaneous reporting and later go...
Jan 9, 2026
Did Bill Clinton receive a draft deferment or medical exemption during the Vietnam War?
Bill Clinton did not receive a medical exemption from the Vietnam War draft; his avoidance of combat service resulted from a sequence of student deferments, changing Selective Service classifications,...