Index/Topics/Vietnam-era draft lottery

Vietnam-era draft lottery

The Vietnam-era draft lottery and its fairness, including the use of a physical lottery system and subsequent analyses that raised doubts about its impartiality.

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5 results
Jan 18, 2026
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How did the 1969 draft lottery change who was called to serve in Vietnam?

The December 1, 1969 draft lottery replaced the previous “draft the oldest man first” administrative order with a date-of-birth lottery to determine the order of induction for men born 1944–1950, ther...

Jan 23, 2026
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How did the 1969 draft lottery change who was actually sent to Vietnam compared with pre‑lottery deferment practices?

The draft lottery replaced a “channeling” system of that had systematically insulated better‑educated and more affluent young men from frontline service, introducing a birth‑date lottery intended to r...

Jan 19, 2026
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How did the 1969 draft lottery impact draft eligibility?

The 1969 draft lottery replaced the old "oldest-man-first" conscription rule with a randomized, birth‑date lottery that determined the order of call for men born between January 1, 1944 and December 3...

Jan 18, 2026

How did the Selective Service change the lottery protocol after 1969 and what statistical methods were adopted to ensure randomness?

The Selective Service replaced the “oldest-first” call-up with a birthdate lottery beginning December 1, 1969, using 366 capsules drawn from a drum to assign order numbers; the 1969 drawing was later ...

Jan 9, 2026

How did the 1969 draft lottery work and which other future political figures were affected by it?

The 1969 draft lottery assigned every birth date a number from 1 to 366 by drawing blue plastic capsules containing calendar dates; lower numbers meant earlier “order of call” for men born 1944–1950 a...