Representative Sam Rayburn of Texas filled out this draft registration card at age 36 as required by the Selective Service Act of 1917 as amended. Rayburn served in Congress for 48 years, including 17 years as Speaker of the House. During World War II Speaker Rayburn played a key role in managing a close House vote on extending the service of the nation’s first peacetime draftees.
Records of the Selective Service System (World War I), National Archives and Records Administration
World War I draft registration card for Representative Sam Rayburn of Texas, September 5, 1918
Serving the Nation: The Draft
Less than six weeks after the United States entered World War I, Congress narrowly passed the Selective Service Act of 1917, giving the president power to draft men for war service. In 1940, after the German defeat of France and amid growing concerns about a possible German attack on the United States, Congress approved the country’s first-ever peacetime draft. The combined wartime drafts required nearly 13 million American men to register for wartime service.
If it were possible to raise a sufficient number of men by voluntary enlistment and they would come from all sections in equal percentages the selective service might not be necessary.
Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn of Texas, Constituent Correspondence, August 22, 1940
Representative Sam Rayburn of Texas filled out this draft registration card at age 36 as required by the Selective Service Act of 1917 as amended. Rayburn served in Congress for 48 years, including 17 years as Speaker of the House. During World War II Speaker Rayburn played a key role in managing a close House vote on extending the service of the nation’s first peacetime draftees.
Records of the Selective Service System (World War I), National Archives and Records Administration
