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"Old enough to fight, old enough to vote"
During World War ll, President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military draft to 18. People figured that if people could fight and die for their country at 18 years old, they should also be able to vote. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" became a saying after the draft got lowered. -
Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph is known as the "Father of the 26th Amendment." He brought up lowering the voting age to 18 eleven times from 1942 until it passed in 1971. Randolph introduced this in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his State of the Union Address. He was in favor of 18 year olds having the right to vote. Eisenhower stated, "For years our citizens between the ages of 18 and 21, in time of peril, been summoned to fight for America. They should participate in the political process that produces this fateful summons." He was also the first president to voice his opinion about lowering the voting age to 18. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War intensified the debate over voting age restrictions. Voting activists held marches and rallies across the country to get people's attention about the issue of age restrictions on voting. 18 year olds males could fight and die for their country, but could not vote. -
Oregon vs. Mitchell
The Oregon vs. Mitchell Supreme Court Case held that Congress could set voting age requirements for federal elections, not state or local elections. Some justices believed Congress had the power to also regulate state and local elections, others thought it was unconstitutional for them to even regulate federal elections. -
Richard Nixon
On this day, President Richard Nixon signed the Voting Act. Nixon stated it was the right of the states to set the voting age, not the Federal government. He also said that if he were to veto, he would veto the entire bill. -
U.S. Senate in Favor
On this day, the United States Senate voted in favor of the 26th Amendment. The Senate voted 94-0 in proposing the amendment. The House of Representatives voted 401-19 in favor of the proposed amendment. -
Proposal
Both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives adopted the proposal to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. It was then sent to the states for ratification. -
Ratification
On this day, the 26th Amendment became part of the Constitution. This was the quickest amendment to be ratified, with it only taking three months and eight days after it was submitted to the states. -
Opposition
Professor William Carleton argued that 18 year olds were not mature enough to handle the responsibilities to vote. He also stated that there were younger soldiers in the Civil War so "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was invalid.
