I am old enough (just barely) to remember Vietnam so allow me to shed some light on that.
The reason public opinion turned against the war (and as a consequence we lost one for the first time) is that the draft was taking young men involuntarily to toss into a meat grinder for which we had no plan to win, and which Walter Cronkite had convinced the country we could not win.
Hence it was the PARENTS of the draftees turning against the war that turned the tide. No one took campus protesters any more seriously than we take those fools at Missouri. But actual, mature, job-holding tax-paying adult voters marching against the war DID get the attention of politicians, and they ended it.
The Left has tried in vain to replicate this, as with an all-volunteer military most people realize that our soldiers and sailors signed up for this sacrifice voluntarily and fully informed.
Bringing back the draft will, they feel, again radicalize the parents of potential draftees and turn us into a radically pacifist country. Particularly if daughters might be drafted.
Thanks, I don’t really remember it. Probably because my immediate family members that were drafted, were turned out. (medical). I do remember watching the fall of Saigon.
The reason the parents turned against the draft was simple.
It became obvious we weren’t there to actually WIN.
We haven’t been allowed to WIN any war since WWII.
When we have leadership that actually wants to WIN a war in the best interests of THIS country, let me know.