Muhammad Ali Refuses Army Induction
On April 28, 1967, heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army, claiming that the war in Vietnam was immoral and that as a member of the Nation of Islam he was a conscientious objector. In this photograph, Ali stands outside the U.S. Army induction center in Houston, Texas. Ali’s refusal, which was applauded by the antiwar movement, led to a five-year prison sentence. Though that conviction was overturned in 1971 after numerous appeals, Ali’s stand against the war cost him his heavyweight boxing title. © Bettmann/Corbis.