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Selective Service System State Headquarters records, 1940-1975

Abstract Or Scope

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (Public Law 783), which created the country's first peacetime draft and formally established the Selective Service System as an independent Federal agency. From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces that could not be filled through voluntary means. In 1973, the draft ended and the United States converted to an all-volunteer military. The registration requirement was suspended in April 1975 but was resumed again in 1980.

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