The Long & Short of it: Mitt Romney dropped out of college, which meant he was going to lose his student deferment. Then, he decided he could obtain additional deferments by doing missionary work. Where else but to France would a cushy kid go? So, he did, for two years. Then, he decided he wanted to return to the United States, so he re-enrolled in college, this time at a different one – BYU. That meant he could get ANOTHER deferment… which he did.
One thing’s for certain: MITT ROMNEY KNOWS HOW TO GAME THE SYSTEM.
While at Stanford, Mitt Romney was exempt from the draft because he had a 2-S student deferment which was given to most undergraduates. He kept it only one year. Similarly to his older brother, Scott, Mitt Romney left Stanford early to serve for 30 months as a missionary abroad, as is customary for devout Mormon men.
During those two years in France, from 1966 to 1968, he obtained another draft exemption as a missionary — which was very controversial, because critics complained that it disproportionately excluded Mormon men from service.
The Selective Service eventually limited church districts to one religious deferment every six months, which sharply reduced draft exemptions in Utah. But in Michigan, where Mitt Romney grew up, the small Mormon population there made it highly unlikely that others competed for the mission that Mitt Romney volunteered for, said Barry Mayo, a counselor at the time to the district bishop. After he returned from France, Mitt Romney transferred to Brigham Young University, and obtained another student deferment.
Three years after George Romney became the the Nixon administration‘s housing secretary, a journalist interviewed children of top administration officials about their views on the war. Then 23-year-old Mitt said, “If it wasn’t a political blunder to move into Vietnam, I don’t know what is.”
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All Gave Some, Some Gave All.
And ONE ran off to France to hide.
By David Pinar on Sep. 28, 2012
Mitt Romney resigned from college, then requested a draft deferment & exemption for missionary work in France.
The Vietnam War was one of the most troubling, challenging times for America. It was America’s most unpopular war, and it sharply divided our country. Some proudly enlisted and volunteered for duty. Some had to be drafted, but served their country and did their duty. Many protested against the war. And some even immigrated to Canada to avoid the draft. But as diverse their views and opinions were they shared one thing in common: they formed their opinions and then followed their convictions. But there was one who didn’t: Willard Mitt Romney.
That’s Mitt on the right in May 1966, at Standford University. Some students had organized a sit-in demonstration protesting the war, the draft, and university President Sterling’s support for the war. So Mitt joined a counter demonstration supporting the war in Vietnam and the draft. He thought those anti-war protestors should just shut up and prepare to be drafted and deployed. When he was running for President in 2007 he claimed in an interview with NBC that Read the rest of this entry »
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