The draft lottery

The draft lottery was a system used during the Vietnam War era to determine the order in which young men were called for military service. Men’s birth dates were assigned a random number, and these numbers were drawn in a lottery. The lower the number, the sooner they could be drafted. This process aimed to make the selection fair and less arbitrary, giving all eligible men an equal chance based on chance rather than favoritism or bias. It was a way to organize conscription during a time of widespread military need.