When Cheney became eligible for the draft, during the Vietnam War, he applied for and received five draft deferments.[17][18] In 1989, The Washington Post writer George C. Wilson interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."[19] Cheney testified during his confirmation hearings in 1989 that he received deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, owing to sub par academic performance and the need to work to pay for his education. Initially, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was only taking older men. When he became eligible for the draft, he applied for four deferments in sequence. He applied for his fifth exemption on January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant. He was granted 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft. link

We've all - most of us - become complacent about letting other people make the sacrifices so that we can go about our lives, our sometimes shallow and silly and lazy lives.  Or maybe we think that the contributions we're making to society are just as valuable - that it means something to raise good and loving and strong children who understand how much they have and how we must give back to others, to be teachers and doctors and run soup kitchens and help people out of hopelessness.  And maybe some people just don't care as long as they don't have to be the ones to defend the nation.

Yes, it offended me that a Dick Cheney could work the system to avoid serving his country when so many others who believed their lives to be just as valuable answered their country's call - and then years later, seem to fairly drool over going to war - having other people once again fight for him.  

Did my husband, who was 21 at the time, think his fear of never living to see 22, of coming home in pieces should have allowed him to stay home, that his own hopes and dreams were so much more valuable than someone else's that he should have been able to be exempt?  I'm sure he wished that were so, but with a low draft number, he ended up enlisting in the Army, because he was at least smart enough to know that he didn't want to be drafted into the Marines - which was where other draftees in his area ended up.

If we're going to make a habit of going to war - and it kinda seems like that's what we're doing - we either need a draft with little wiggle room, so that it isn't just the poor schlub who has to serve, or we need compulsory military service.  

In the meantime, the Donald Trumps of the world need to be asked some serious questions, and we have to demand something as close to honest as possible in the way of answers.  "Boardroom" wars are not the equivalent of going into a war zone with no guarantee of coming back.  "Commanding" an army of employees is not the equivalent of commanding an army .

So, we have to make up our minds: if there's going to be this constant tension because someone who has never served in the military wants a position where he - or she - has the power to send others into war, maybe military service also has to be a qualification for holding that office.  If it's not a requirement, then do we have to let it go and try to convince ourselves that leadership skills, no matter where they are learned, are sufficient to hand someone the title of Commander-in-Chief?

I don't object to the deferments. Many, many guys used deferments to escape that war. During college I volunteered as a draft counselor, helping boys avoid the draft. It was a perfectly reasonable position to take during that time. No reason to lie about it, which is what Trump did.

Let's look at our VietNam era candidates. In 1988 we learned that GOP vice-presidential candidate Dan Quayle's father got Dan a cushy and hard-to-come-by position in the Indiana National Guard, which meant Dan was safe from VietNam. Bill Clinton used student deferments and some possible sleight-of-hand and then got a high draft lottery number. Al Gore enlisted and served in VietNam.

We get to 2000, and we have 5 deferment Cheney and another my-powerful-daddy-got-me-in-the Guard candidate named George W. Bush. Al Gore, as noted above, served in the Army.

The 2004 election saw decorated Naval officer John Kerry defeated by National Guard slacker Bush.

And, finally, in 2008, VietNam POW McCain, had a
female running mate Palin was exempt from VietNam angst by virtue of her age (too young) and the fact that women were never drafted. McCain lost to Obama, who was a child during VietNam, and became an adult in the era of the all-volunteer military. He ran with 4 deferments Joe Biden.

I don't see any election where not serving in VietNam cost a candidate very much at all. If it was a serious issue for voters, GW Bush would never have won the White House.

And no, I don't think I deserve a pat on the back for that either, but I sure as hell wasn't gonna risk my life or kill anyone because G.W. wanted some more oil and to avenge his daddy.