Recipients of draft deferments during the Vietnam War era. Note that some of these men enlisted in the armed forces despite a deferment.
A total of 1,857,304 men were drafted between August 1964 and February 1973, drawing from the pool of men born on or before 1955.
Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
Basketball |
16-Apr-1947 |
|
NBA records for most minutes, most points |
Elliott Abrams |
Government |
24-Jan-1948 |
|
Asst. Secy. of State involved in Iran-Contra |
Lamar Alexander |
Politician |
3-Jul-1940 |
|
US Senator from Tennessee |
Muhammad Ali |
Boxing |
17-Jan-1942 |
|
Floated like butterfly, stung like bee |
Samuel Alito |
Judge |
1-Apr-1950 |
|
US Supreme Court Justice |
Wayne Allard |
Politician |
2-Dec-1943 |
|
US Senator from Colorado, 1997-2009 |
George Allen |
Politician |
8-Mar-1952 |
|
US Senator from Virginia, 2001-07 |
John Ashcroft |
Politician |
9-May-1942 |
|
US Attorney General, 2001-05 |
Richard Axel |
Scientist |
2-Jul-1946 |
|
Odorant receptors and olfactory organization |
Gary Bauer |
Government |
4-May-1946 |
|
Family Research Council |
Bob Beauprez |
Politician |
22-Sep-1948 |
|
Congressman from Colorado, 2003-07 |
William Bennett |
Government |
31-Jul-1943 |
|
Former Drug Czar and gambling man |
Joseph Biden |
Politician |
20-Nov-1942 |
|
Vice President of the United States |
Don Black |
Activist |
28-Jul-1953 |
|
Stormfront.org founder |
Michael Bloomberg |
Politician |
14-Feb-1942 |
|
Mayor of New York City, 2002-13 |
Roy Blunt |
Politician |
10-Jan-1950 |
|
US Senator from Missouri |
Neal Boortz |
Radio Personality |
6-Apr-1945 |
|
Libertarian radio host |
Bill Bradley |
Politician |
28-Jul-1943 |
|
US Senator from New Jersey, 1979-97 |
Phil Bredesen |
Politician |
21-Nov-1943 |
|
Governor of Tennessee, 2003-11 |
L. Paul Bremer |
Government |
30-Sep-1941 |
|
Director of the Iraq Provisional Authority |
George W. Bush |
Head of State |
6-Jul-1946 |
|
43rd US President, 2001-09 |
Richard Carpenter |
Musician |
15-Oct-1946 |
|
The Carpenters |
Saxby Chambliss |
Politician |
10-Nov-1943 |
|
US Senator from Georgia |
Dick Cheney |
Politician |
30-Jan-1941 |
|
US Vice President, 2001-09 |
Tom Clancy |
Novelist |
12-Apr-1947 |
1-Oct-2013 |
The Hunt for Red October |
Bill Clinton |
Head of State |
19-Aug-1946 |
|
42nd US President, 1993-2001 |
Norm Coleman |
Politician |
17-Aug-1949 |
|
US Senator from Minnesota, 2003-09 |
Pete Coors |
Relative |
20-Sep-1946 |
|
Coors scion |
Howard Dean |
Politician |
17-Nov-1948 |
|
Governor of Vermont, 1991-2003 |
Tom DeLay |
Politician |
8-Apr-1947 |
|
Former House Majority Leader |
Mike DeWine |
Politician |
5-Jan-1947 |
|
Attorney General of Ohio |
Brian J. Donnelly |
Politician |
2-Mar-1946 |
|
Congressman from Massachusetts, 1979-93 |
Roy P. Dyson |
Politician |
15-Nov-1948 |
|
Congressman from Maryland, 1981-91 |
David Eisenhower |
Author |
31-Mar-1948 |
|
Camp David namesake |
Daniel Ellsberg |
Government |
7-Apr-1931 |
|
Pentagon Papers source |
James Fallows |
Journalist |
2-Aug-1949 |
|
Atlantic Monthly |
Bobby Fischer |
Chess Player |
9-Mar-1943 |
18-Jan-2008 |
Eccentric chess grandmaster |
Steve Forbes |
Business |
18-Jul-1947 |
|
Owner and publisher of Forbes magazine |
Al Franken |
Politician |
21-May-1951 |
|
US Senator from Minnesota |
Bob Franks |
Politician |
21-Sep-1951 |
9-Apr-2010 |
Congressman from New Jersey, 1993-2001 |
Bill Frist |
Politician |
22-Feb-1952 |
|
US Senate Majority Leader, 2003-07 |
Max Gail |
Actor |
5-Apr-1943 |
|
Det. Wojciehowicz on Barney Miller |
Dick Gephardt |
Politician |
31-Jan-1941 |
|
Congressman from Missouri, 1977-2005 |
Newt Gingrich |
Politician |
17-Jun-1943 |
|
Speaker of the House, 1995-99 |
Rudy Giuliani |
Politician |
28-May-1944 |
|
Mayor of New York City, 1994-2001 |
Al Gore |
Politician |
31-Mar-1948 |
|
US Vice President under Clinton |
Phil Gramm |
Politician |
8-Jul-1942 |
|
US Senator from Texas, 1985-2002 |
Lee Greenwood |
Country Musician |
27-Oct-1942 |
|
God Bless the U.S.A. |
Judd Gregg |
Politician |
14-Feb-1947 |
|
US Senator from New Hampshire, 1993-2011 |
Arlo Guthrie |
Singer/Songwriter |
10-Jul-1947 |
|
Alice's Restaurant |
George Hamilton |
Actor |
12-Aug-1939 |
|
Well-tanned celebrity |
Robert Hanssen |
Spy |
18-Apr-1944 |
|
Russian mole inside the FBI |
Dennis Hastert |
Politician |
2-Jan-1942 |
|
Speaker of the House, 1999-2006 |
Roger Hedgecock |
Politician |
2-May-1946 |
|
Mayor of San Diego, 1983-85 |
Douglas Hofstadter |
Author |
15-Feb-1945 |
|
Godel, Escher, Bach |
Brit Hume |
Journalist |
22-Jun-1943 |
|
Fox News DC correspondent |
John Irving |
Novelist |
2-Mar-1942 |
|
The World According to Garp |
Davy Jones |
Singer |
30-Dec-1945 |
29-Feb-2012 |
Frontman for The Monkees |
Ted Kaczynski |
Criminal |
22-May-1942 |
|
The Unabomber |
Andy Kaufman |
Comic |
17-Jan-1949 |
16-May-1984 |
Brilliant comic, prankster, professional wrestler |
Bob Kerrey |
Politician |
27-Aug-1943 |
|
Governor and Senator from Nebraska |
Alan Keyes |
Radio Personality |
7-Aug-1950 |
|
Illinois carpetbagger |
Stephen King |
Novelist |
21-Sep-1947 |
|
The Shining |
Bruce Kovner |
Activist |
Feb-1945 |
|
Caxton Associates billionaire |
Dennis Kucinich |
Politician |
8-Oct-1946 |
|
Congressman, Ohio 10th |
Ken Lay |
Business |
15-Apr-1942 |
5-Jul-2006 |
CEO of Enron, 1986-2002 |
Ron Lewis |
Politician |
14-Sep-1946 |
|
Congressman from Kentucky, 1994-2009 |
Lewis Libby |
Government |
22-Aug-1950 |
|
Cheney's former Chief of Staff |
Joseph Lieberman |
Politician |
24-Feb-1942 |
|
Former US Senator from Connecticut |
Rush Limbaugh |
Radio Personality |
12-Jan-1951 |
|
Conservative talk show host |
Trent Lott |
Politician |
9-Oct-1941 |
|
US Senator from Mississippi, 1989-2007 |
Dan Lungren |
Politician |
22-Sep-1946 |
|
Congressman, California 3rd |
David Mamet |
Author |
30-Nov-1947 |
|
Glengarry Glen Ross |
Jim Marshall |
Politician |
31-Mar-1948 |
|
Congressman from Georgia, 2003-11 |
Chris Matthews |
Talk Show Host |
17-Dec-1945 |
|
Hardball with Chris Matthews |
Mitch McConnell |
Politician |
20-Feb-1942 |
|
US Senator from Kentucky |
Michael Medved |
Critic |
Oct-1948 |
|
Traditional values pundit, film critic |
Thomas Menino |
Politician |
27-Dec-1942 |
30-Oct-2014 |
Mayor of Boston for twenty years |
Bob Metcalfe |
Business |
1946 |
|
Co-Inventor of Ethernet |
John Milius |
Film Director |
11-Apr-1944 |
|
Conan the Barbarian |
James C. Miller III |
Economist |
25-Jun-1942 |
|
Conservative economist |
Dan Moldea |
Journalist |
27-Feb-1950 |
|
Muckraker |
Joe Namath |
Football |
31-May-1943 |
|
Football player and pantyhose wearer |
Ted Nugent |
Musician |
13-Dec-1948 |
|
Rock star, bowhunting enthusiast |
Bill O'Reilly |
Talk Show Host |
10-Sep-1949 |
|
The O'Reilly Factor |
P. J. O'Rourke |
Author |
14-Nov-1947 |
|
Political satirist |
Bill Owens |
Politician |
22-Oct-1950 |
|
Governor of Colorado, 1999-2007 |
Carl Paladino |
Business |
24-Aug-1946 |
|
Buffalo real estate baron |
Gram Parsons |
Musician |
5-Nov-1946 |
19-Sep-1973 |
Flying Burrito Brothers |
George Pataki |
Politician |
24-Jun-1945 |
|
Governor of New York, 1995-2006 |
John Perkins |
Activist |
28-Jan-1945 |
|
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man |
Dan Quayle |
Politician |
4-Feb-1947 |
|
Vice President under George H.W. Bush |
Marc Racicot |
Politician |
24-Jul-1948 |
|
Governor of Montana, 1993-2001 |
Robert Reich |
Government |
24-Jun-1946 |
|
US Secretary of Labor, 1993-97 |
Bill Richardson |
Politician |
15-Nov-1947 |
|
Governor of New Mexico, 2003-11 |
Donald L. Ritter |
Politician |
21-Oct-1940 |
|
Congressman from Pennsylvania, 1979-93 |
Dana Rohrabacher |
Politician |
21-Jun-1947 |
|
Congressman, California 46th |
Mitt Romney |
Politician |
12-Mar-1947 |
|
Governor of Massachusetts, 2003-07 |
Karl Rove |
Government |
25-Dec-1950 |
|
Political Strategist to George W. Bush |
Robert Shapiro |
Attorney |
2-Sep-1942 |
|
One of OJ Simpson's attorneys |
Ron Silver |
Actor |
2-Jul-1946 |
15-Mar-2009 |
Wiseguy |
O. J. Simpson |
Football |
9-Jul-1947 |
|
Searching tirelessly for the real killers |
Richard E. Smalley |
Chemist |
6-Jun-1943 |
28-Oct-2005 |
Co-Discovered fullerines |
David Souter |
Judge |
17-Sep-1939 |
|
US Supreme Court Justice, 1990-2009 |
Bruce Springsteen |
Musician |
23-Sep-1949 |
|
The Boss |
Sylvester Stallone |
Actor |
6-Jul-1946 |
|
Rocky, Rambo |
Ken Starr |
Government |
21-Jul-1946 |
|
Special Prosecutor, Clinton's impeachment |
David Stockman |
Government |
10-Nov-1946 |
|
Ronald Reagan's chief economist |
John Stossel |
Journalist |
6-Mar-1947 |
|
Libertarian reporter |
Tom Tancredo |
Politician |
20-Dec-1945 |
|
Congressman from Colorado, 1999-2009 |
John B. Taylor |
Economist |
8-Dec-1946 |
|
Council of Economic Advisers, 1989-91 |
Clarence Thomas |
Judge |
23-Jun-1948 |
|
US Supreme Court Justice |
Garry Trudeau |
Cartoonist |
21-Jul-1948 |
|
Doonesbury |
Donald Trump |
Business |
14-Jun-1946 |
|
The Donald |
Scott Turow |
Novelist |
12-Apr-1949 |
|
Presumed Innocent |
Steven Tyler |
Singer |
26-Mar-1948 |
|
Frontman for Aerosmith |
Mark Udall |
Politician |
18-Jul-1950 |
|
Former US Senator from Colorado |
Douglas A. Warner III |
Business |
9-Jun-1946 |
|
CEO of JP Morgan, 1995-2000 |
Henry Waxman |
Politician |
12-Sep-1939 |
|
Congressman, California 30th |
Daniel A. Webster |
Politician |
27-Apr-1949 |
|
Congressman, Florida 10th |
Andrew Weil |
Author |
8-Jun-1942 |
|
New age ethnopharmacologist |
Bill Weld |
Politician |
31-Jul-1945 |
|
Governor of Massachusetts, 1991-97 |
Curt Weldon |
Politician |
22-Jul-1947 |
|
Congressman from Pennsylvania, 1987-2007 |
George Will |
Columnist |
4-May-1941 |
|
Conservative pundit, baseball lover |
Joseph Wilson |
Diplomat |
6-Nov-1949 |
|
Ambassador to Gabon, Valerie Plame's husband |
Paul Wolfowitz |
Government |
22-Dec-1943 |
|
President of the World Bank, 2005-07 |
Steve Wozniak |
Computer Programmer |
11-Aug-1950 |
|
Co-Founder of Apple Computer |