Wrong, wrong, wrong. My son is the same age (2 months older) as Obama. He had to sign up. He took off from work early to go to the post office to do it. Then, a year later, the government contacted him and said that he had not signed up (they lost it) and he had to do it all over again. The requirement was in place in 1979, as it was 4 years later when it was my 2nd son’s turn.
From wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_service
On July 2, 1980, however, President Carter signed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18–26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960. [13] Only men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. [14] The first registrations after Proclamation 4771 took place on Monday, July 21, 1980, for those men born in January, February and March 1960 at U.S. Post Offices. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were reserved for men born in the later quarters of the year, and registration for men born in 1961 began the following week. [15]