[2] The first peacetime conscription in the United States, the act required all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register and be placed in order for call to military service determined by a national lottery.

If drafted, a man served on active duty for 12 months, and then in a reserve component for 10 years, until he reached the age of 45, or was discharged, whichever came first.

On August 12, the United States House of Representatives approved the extension by a single vote;[4] Roosevelt's former Secretary of War Harry Woodring was among those opposed, writing to Senator Arthur Vandenberg that voluntary enlistment had not been fully tried.

[5] As Under Secretary of the Army Karl R. Bendetsen said in an oral history interview, "Mr. Rayburn banged the gavel at a critical moment and declared the Bill had passed.

[7] Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, millions of American men entered the United States military's ranks both by volunteering and by conscription.