On this day in ...... 1940 (70 years ago today), even though it had not joined the conflict then raging in Europe, the United States began conscripting men into the armed forces via a lottery. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson chose the numbers, as illustrated in this cartoon, part of a super timeline of U.S. activities in this World War II year before the Pearl Harbor attack. Quoting church leaders who supported the move, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech defending the 1st-ever peacetime draft.
(Prior October 29 posts are here, here, and here.)
