The actual draft ended in 1973, two years before I turned 18
source aside from my own dazed and confused memory..lol
Yes, I retracted. Suffice it to say, that Selective Service WAS in effect for Obama during the 1980 time period.
Good link with good background environment at the time:
http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/001513.html
“No registration requirement was in effect when Obama graduated from high school or turned 18 in 1979. Reinstatement of registration was proposed by President Carter during his State of the Union address in Januray 1980, debated by Congress that spring, and enacted in early summer.
To “jump-start” the Selective Service System and provide an initial pool of potential draftees, there were three mass registration weeks in July-August 1980 and January 1981.
All male U.S. citizens born in 1960 (such as myself) were supposed to register the week of 21-26 July 1980. All those born in 1961 (such as Obama) were supposed to register the following week, 28 July-2 August 1980. All those born in 1962 were supposed to register during the first week of January 1981. Since then, those born in 1963 and after have been supposed to register on a rolling basis, within 30 days of their 18th birthday.
Registrations during the mass registration weeks in 1980 were accepted in person at all Post Offices. Registration forms were accepted at any Post Office, regardless of the registrant’s address or place of residence. (Not until years later was registration made possible online, in conjunction with drivers license applications, or at high schools and other locations.)”
One question might be - Would Obama have been in Hawaii in September of 1980 as the record shows? Or would he not have been in class in Occidental in LA? When did Occidental start classes in the fall of 1980?