In the United States, military conscription has been used many times during its wars, particularly in the Cold War. Even though the draft has not been used since 1973, men of draft age (between 18-25 years) still have to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday so a draft can be readily resumed if needed.

During the Vietnam War, about two-thirds of American troops were volunteers, the rest were selected for military service through the drafts—2.2 million men were drafted throughout the war out of a pool of 27 million. Names of all American men of the draft age were collected by the Selective Service System. When someone was called, he had to report to his local draft board, which was made up of various community members, so that they could begin to evaluate his draft status. Local draft boards had enormous power to decide who had to go and who would stay. 

U.S. involvement in Vietnam was controversial, and as a result, saw new levels of opposition to the draft. Some young men of call-up age sought to avoid or delay their military service and there were some legal ways to do that. Men who had physical or mental problems; men who were attending college; or men that were needed at home to support their families might be granted deferments. 

Protests began to center around the noticeable trend that certain groups were drafted more often than others—namely African Americans, high school dropouts, and boys from low-income families. These groups were over-represented within the military in regards to the comparable percentages of their population back home. In fact, famous heavyweight Muhammad Ali was arrested and served jail time for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War. He protested the over-drafting of black men in a nation that did not give those same black men equal status with whites.

Some men avoided the draft by claiming to be homosexuals, and many others chose to flee to a neutral country such as Canada or Mexico to avoid the draft. These people were derogatorily referred to as “draft dodgers”. Draft lotteries were conducted in 1970, 1971, and 1972. The Selective Service System continued to assign draft priority numbers in March from 1973-75 in case the draft was extended, although it never was. Draft resistance reached its peak in 1972, and the number of legal cases increased to 200,600. Those who had practiced draft evasion by flying abroad faced forced military service or imprisonment if they went back home. In 1977, on his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter controversially offered a full pardon to any draft dodgers who requested one. Prominent political figures accused of avoiding the draft include Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, and Donald Trump.