On January 20, 1993, William Jefferson Clinton took the oath of office to become the 42nd President of the United States. Consequently, he also assumed the position of Command-in-Chief of the U.S. Military. In this role he made decisions and was shown to be involved in scandals that placed him in opposition to the men and women he sought to command. He centered his military relations on controversial issues such as reducing the military budget and integrating homosexuals. While these policies would have been enough on their own to ruffle feathers among top brass, it was an event from President Clinton's past that strongly biased the military against him. Clinton ascended to the presidency amid allegations that he was a draft dodger. Political opponents and past acquaintances charge that he used several means to attempt evade the draft, including the influence of his family and the fazade of joining ROTC at the University of Arkansas. It was this avoidance of service that opened an irreparable rift between Clinton and the military, particularly veterans. .
Bill Clinton entered Georgetown Universities School of Foreign Service in the fall of 1964 and upon entrance he was granted a student deferment . He finished his four years without incident, forming a close bond with a group of friends that he remained in contact throughout the rest of his life. It wasn't until he began his term as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford that the draft had a significant impact on his life. On February 16, 1968, President Nixon and the National Security Council abolished the deferments for graduate students, so on March 20, Clinton was classified 1-A by the Garland Country Draft Board. In addition, the policy was in place to draft the oldest men before the youngest. The national advisory commission on selective service had proposed, during the Johnson administration, changing the policy on oldest first but it was left in place.
