<Li> Passed the Senate on April 28, 1917 (81--8, in lieu of S. 1871) </Li> <Li> Reported by the joint conference committee on May 16, 1917; agreed to by the House on May 16, 1917 (198--179) and by the Senate on May 17, 1917 (65--8) </Li> <Li> Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on May 18, 1917 </Li> <P> The Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act (Pub. L. 65--12, 40 Stat. 76, enacted May 18, 1917) 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 (later Brigadier General) 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 . </P>

Who was exempt from the draft in wwi