Muhammad Ali, the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion, entered the combative ring of politics and culture by refusing to
serve in the United States military at the height of the Vietnam
War on this day in 1967.

"I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong," Ali famously said the
year before, the exact quote the source of some dispute, in a
battle that made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. 

He later wrote, "I refuse to be inducted into the Armed Forces
of the United States because I claim to be exempt as a minister
of the religion of Islam."

On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays
at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-
and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the United
States Army.

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)

SANDY KOZEL

2014

James (Jay) Douglas Muir Leno is 72 today.

President Jimmy Carter granting an unconditional pardon to draft
dodgers.

On January 21, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who
evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.

In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the
late 1960s and early ’70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety
percent went to Canada, where after some initial controversy
they were eventually welcomed as immigrants. Still others
hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided
the draft, a relatively small number—about 1,000—of deserters
from the U.S. armed forces also headed to Canada.

  
President Jimmy Carter, in his first day in office, fulfilled a campaign
promise by announcing the pardoning of draft dodgers.
 

On January 21, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional
pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the
Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register. The executive
order left many people furious, while others saw it as a bold show of
compassion.

In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and
early 70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety percent went to Canada, where
after some initial controversy they were eventually welcomed as immigrants.

Still others hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided
the draft, a relatively small number–about 1,000–of deserters from the U.S.
armed forces also headed to Canada. While the Canadian government
technically reserved the right to prosecute deserters, in practice they left
them alone, even instructing border guards not to ask too many questions.