Rough Draft: Cold War Military Manpower Policy and the Origins of Vietnam-Era Draft Resistance

by Amy J. Rutenberg

Overview

Rough Draft draws the curtain on the race and class inequities of the Selective Service during the Vietnam War. Amy J. Rutenberg argues that policy makers' idealized conceptions of Cold War middle-class masculinity directly affected whom they targeted for conscription and also for deferment. Federal officials believed that college educated men could protect the nation from the threat of communism more effectively as civilians than as soldiers. The availability of deferments for this group mushroomed between 1945 and 1965, making it less and less likely that middle-class white men would serve in the Cold War army. Meanwhile, officials used the War on Poverty to target poorer and racialized men for conscription in the hopes that military service would offer them skills they could use in civilian life.

As Rutenberg shows, manpower policies between World War II and the Vietnam War had unintended consequences. While some men resisted military service in Vietnam for reasons of political conscience, most did so because manpower polices made it possible. By shielding middle-class breadwinners in the name of national security, policymakers militarized certain civilian roles—a move that, ironically, separated military service from the obligations of masculine citizenship and, ultimately, helped kill the draft in the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501739361
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2019
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Amy J. Rutenberg is Assistant Professor of History at Iowa State University. Follow her on X @amyjay401.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Selective Service Classification Chart (1951-1973)
Introduction
1. "Digging for Deferments": World War II, 1940-1945
2. "To Rub Smooth the Sharp Edges": Universal Military Training, 1943-1951
3. "Really First-Class Men": The Early Cold War, 1948-1953
4. "A Draft-Dodging Business": Manpower Channeling, 1955-1965
5. "The Most Important Human Salvage Operation in the History of our Country": The War on Poverty, 1961-1969
6. "Choice or Chance": The Vietname War, 1965-1973
Conclusion
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Gregory A. Daddis

A superb addition to any course evaluating the relationships between war and American society. Well-written and tightly argued, Rutenberg illuminates the problems of social mobilization into the armed forces during the Cold War era, all the while contesting the popular memory of the 'Greatest Generation.'

Heather Stur

Lively and accessible, Rough Draft challenges the conventional wisdom about Americans' commitment to military service, the motivations behind Vietnam-era draft resistance, and the construction of appropriate roles for men in post-World War II society. It will be read by armchair historians and students of military and gender studies alike.

Editorial Reviews

Rutenberg has provided an exceptionally clear, interesting, and readable account of Vietnam-era draft avoidance and how it was actually abetted by the very governmental officials charged with bringing men into uniform.

The Journal of Military History

Throughout this well-written work, Rutenberg weaves issues of class, race, masculinity, citizenship, and state authority... She convincingly argues that draft avoidance during the Vietnam era emerged from deliberate post-World War II government policies.

AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Rough Draft offers an invaluable model for how scholars might think about the subtle ways in which militarization has affected American society. In telling this story, Rutenberg confidently sketches over thirty years of policy in crisp and lucid prose.

History

This outstanding work by Amy Rutenberg surveys the Selective Service before the Vietnam War.

Choice

Rutenberg's report that men's military participation rates in the 1940s were due more to the draft than patriotism will surprise many students; her use of that conclusion to debunk the myth of 'the greatest generation' unsettles the conventional wisdom that sixties-generation men were self-interested shirkers.

Peace and Change

Rough Draft offers an invaluable model for how scholars might think about the subtle ways in which militarization has affected American society. In telling this story, Rutenberg confidently sketches over thirty years of policy in crisp and lucid prose.

-- "History"

Rutenberg has provided an exceptionally clear, interesting, and readable account of Vietnam-era draft avoidance and how it was actually abetted by the very governmental officials charged with bringing men into uniform.

-- "The Journal of Military History"

Rutenberg's report that men's military participation rates in the 1940s were due more to the draft than patriotism will surprise many students; her use of that conclusion to debunk the myth of 'the greatest generation' unsettles the conventional wisdom that sixties-generation men were self-interested shirkers.

-- "Peace and Change"

This outstanding work by Amy Rutenberg surveys the Selective Service before the Vietnam War.

-- "Choice"

Throughout this well-written work, Rutenberg weaves issues of class, race, masculinity, citizenship, and state authority... She convincingly argues that draft avoidance during the Vietnam era emerged from deliberate post-World War II government policies.

-- "AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW"

From the Publisher

"A superb addition to any course evaluating the relationships between war and American society.Well-written and tightly argued, Rutenberg illuminates the problems of social mobilization into the armed forces during the Cold War era, all the while contesting the popular memory of the 'Greatest Generation.'"

Gregory A. Daddis

"Lively and accessible, Rough Draft challenges the conventional wisdom about Americans' commitment to military service, the motivations behind Vietnam-era draft resistance, and the construction of appropriate roles for men in post-World War II society. It will be read by armchair historians and students of military and gender studies alike."

Heather Stur