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Dodging and deferring: Trump wasn’t the only POTUS to avoid the draft
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Dodging and deferring: Trump wasn’t the only POTUS to avoid the draft

Lawrence J. Korb shares his opinion on how a number of U.S. presidents have approached serving in the military.

It is quite appropriate and important that on the day of the inauguration, new the new president, Joseph Biden, and three of his four immediate predecessors visited Arlington Cemetery where many of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country are laid to rest.

In addition to honoring these brave men and women, I hope that President Biden and two of his predecessors, presidents Bush and Clinton, will reflect on the fact that some of those who are buried are there because in 1968, they, like President Trump, avoided being drafted through questionable means. Therefore someone who probably could not afford, or have the background or connections, to go to Syracuse Law School where Biden went, or Yale where Bush went, or Georgetown and Oxford where President Clinton went, had to go into the Army.

The above excerpt was originally published in Military Times. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Lawrence J. Korb

Former Senior Fellow