Existing comment:
Old Enough to Fight and Die
At the age of 18, young men had been considered mature enough to fight, but not to vote. The movement to lower the voting age from 21 began during World War II. When 18-year-olds were drafted to fight in Vietnam, the disparity became striking, and the voting age was changed. The 26th Amendment was ratified faster than any other amendment -- in only 100 days.
"Hey! They're gonna treat me like a man!" political cartoon by Bruce Shanks, Buffalo Evening News, June 29, 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library |