The lottery was purely birthdate. But even if you had a high lottery number and were therefore drafted, you could get deferments, and the deferments were easier to get for those with better education and higher status. You could get deferments if you were in college, or if you were a teacher, for example. You could enlist the help of a politician if you knew one or donated to one. So George W. Bush was able to get a plum spot in the National Guard due to his family's power and influence. Clinton had no power or influence but he wrote letters to politicians and he was smart so could stay in school with scholarships. Dick Cheney took advantage of every possible deferment he could, from being in college to being a teacher to having a child. As the war continued and protesters protested against the deferment advantages the wealthier and more middle class had, they started to do away with many deferments, such as deferment for being in college. Those who couldn't use the deferments sometimes resorted to other means of getting out of the draft, such as George R.R. Martin, who declared himself a conscientious objector, and he instead did national service elsewhere. Bruce Springsteen acted crazy at his physical, plus he was still recovering from a concussion, so he failed his physical.