Selective Service Act of 1917
The Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. It was envisioned in December 1916 and brought to President Woodrow Wilson's attention shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February 1917. The Act itself was drafted by then-Captain Hugh S. Johnson after the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. The Act was canceled with the end of the war on November 11, 1918. The Act was upheld as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1918.
Uncle Sam pointing his finger at the viewer in order to recruit soldiers for the American Army during World War I, 1917-1918
Sheet music cover for patriotic song, 1917
Young men at the first national registration day held in association with the Selective Service Act of 1917.
Hugh Samuel Johnson was a United States Army officer, businessman, speech writer, government official and newspaper columnist. He was a member of the Brain Trust of Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1932 to 1934. He wrote numerous speeches for FDR and helped plan the New Deal. Appointed head of the National Recovery Administration (NRA) in 1933, he was highly energetic in his "blue eagle" campaign to reorganize American business to reduce competition and raise wages and prices. Schlesinger (1958) and Ohl (1985) conclude that he was an excellent organizer, but that he was also domineering, abusive, outspoken, and unable to work harmoniously with his peers. He lost control of the NRA in August 1934.
Hugh S. Johnson
The Army Distinguished Service Medal, awarded to Johnson as a brigadier general
Johnson, Enoch Crowder and Roscoe S. Conkling at Camp Upton in 1917
Johnson on the cover of Time magazine, 1933.