Chickenhawk

Let's examine the military draft history of Donald Trump, who graduated from high school in the spring of 1964.

1964 - student deferment while enrolled at Fordham University

1965 - student deferment while enrolled at Fordham University

1966 - student deferment while enrolled at University of Pennsylvania (Wharton Business School)

1967 - student deferment while enrolled at University of Pennsylvania (Wharton Business School)

1968 - receives medical deferment for bone spurs.

President Barack Obama was born in 1961.  The draft ended in 1973.  He was not subject to the draft.

President George W. Bush received student deferments while he attended Yale from the fall of 1964 through June of 1968.  At that time he joined the Texas Air National Guard.  The controversy around his enlistment in the Air National Guard is well documented.

As is the controversy surrounding the draft history of President Bill Clinton, who also received multiple deferments.

Presidents prior to Bill Clinton weren't subject to being drafted to serve during the Vietnam War.

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The New York Times is reporting that the medical deferment letter that enabled Donald Trump to avoid the draft was written as a "favor" to his father, Fred Trump.  

It seems obvious that the enlistment of George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard was due to his father being a member of Congress.

Did Bill Clinton survive 17 months of being classified 1-A (eligible to be drafted) because of the actions of his Uncle, Raymond Clinton?  Very possible.

The fact is, many fathers, mothers and other relatives did things during the Vietnam-era draft to help their loved ones avoid military service.  So did the men who did not want to serve in Vietnam.  Rudy Guiliani applied for an occupational deferment while clerking for a judge.  His request was denied.  He got his boss to lobby the draft board to reverse that decision and was successful.  

Did Michigan Governor George Romney have a hand in obtaining the deferment his son Mitt received to go on a Mormon mission to France?  Probably not.  While the Mormon church had agreed to limit those deferments, the low number of Mormons of draft age who were residents of Michigan at the time all but ensured he would receive the deferment.

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So why does this issue of Trump and his alleged bone spurs bother me so much, in light of the fact so many others did virtually the same thing?

Chickenhawk is a term that doesn't get much play these days, but it was in common usage during the Vietnam War.  Donald Trump is the epitome of a chickenhawk.  It refers to someone who advocates/supports war but actively avoided military service.

Worse is that he denigrates the sacrifices made by those who have served, as he did in his description of the late Senator John McCain.  Now he's gone to Iraq for a photo-op with the troops.  I challenge anyone to provide evidence of any other Commander-in-Chief who passed out campaign swag while visiting the troops.

Donald Trump made a telephone condolence call to the grieving widow of a soldier who had been killed in action in Niger.  The widow claims that he didn't remember the name of her dead husband and said that her husband "...knew what he signed up for."

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I was very critical of Bill Clinton's draft dodging during the 1992 presidential campaign and after his election.  My views have changed.  When it comes to those who were opposed to the war, avoiding the draft makes sense.  For those who supported the war, like Donald Trump and Mitt Romney, avoiding the draft is a different issue.  To quote John McCain:

"One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest-income level of America, and the highest-income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur."

The odds of winning the $348 million MegaMillions jackpot tomorrow night are higher than of Donald Trump having the stones to admit he did not have the alleged bone spurs.