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A far more serious affair. Just when Clinton might have thought he had put it to rest, a letter surfaced last week dated May 8, 1969, and written by Cliff Jackson, then a fellow Rhodes scholar and now a bitter political opponent of Clinton's in Arkansas. In it, Jackson informed a friend back in the U.S. that Clinton "received his induction notice last week." Clinton, who earlier said he was never actually drafted, now asserted that yes, he received an induction letter in England. It came by surface mail, he said, and specified a date that had already passed; he got in touch with his local draft board and was told he could finish his term at Oxford. He did not mention it before, he said in essence, because he had just forgotten about it.
But who could forget a draft notice? At any rate, the basic story does not change: torn between opposition to what he regarded as an immoral war in Vietnam and his sense of duty to country, Clinton kept himself out of the draft for a few crucial months by enrolling in an ROTC unit at the University of Arkansas that he never actually joined; he eventually gave up that deferment but drew such a high lottery number that he was never inducted.
Whatever they may think of the war, many Americans would readily sympathize with the young Clinton's moral turmoil about it; he was certainly not the only member of his generation to do everything he legally could to stay out. But even some of his supporters have trouble swallowing Clinton's contention that his eventual decision to submit to the draft was a moral act, when he wrote at the time that he wanted -- even at the age of 23 -- to maintain his future "political viability." The latest dustup about what kind of letter he received in England can only reinforce an impression that he is saying whatever he judges to be expedient.
SEGREGATED GOLF
Clinton has made no attempt to justify playing a round of golf during the present campaign at the Country Club of Little Rock, which has no black members; he has said it was a mistake that he will not repeat. But his explanation of why he did it sounds distressingly lame: he and his hosts were in a hurry, and it was the only place they could reach in time. Nobody thinks Clinton is a racist; his pledges to try to heal white-vs.-black enmity are among the most attractive aspects of his campaign -- especially in contrast to past Republican appeals to whites' racial fears. But the episode does suggest even to some friendly observers that Clinton may consider himself above the restraints that apply to other people. He knows he is not a racist, and sneaking in a quick round of golf at a convenient country club will not change that, so why not?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST