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This article is about the general. For the computer scientist, please see Wesley A. Clark.
Wesley K. Clark

Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Army. As the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000, Clark commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo conflict. Before this, he had a distinguished career in the Army and the Department of Defense. Clark received many military decorations over the course of his career. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2004, but withdrew from the Democratic primary race on February 11 and continued to actively campaign for eventual Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, as well as many Democratic Congressional candidates across the country. Currently, Clark leads WesPAC, a political action committee formed after the 2004 Democratic Primaries. Clark is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. He is fluent in four languages, including Spanish and Russian.

There are two roads named after Wesley Clark. The people of Djakovica, Kosovo, named their main street after him for his role in helping to end ethnic cleansing in their city and saving the lives of their people.[1] The people of the U.S. State of Alabama, a Republican-leaning southern state which is not his home state, named a boulevard after him in the city of Madison, Alabama, in recognition of his 38 years of devoted service in uniform and his southern heritage.

Besides his many military decorations (both foreign and domestic), Wes Clark also holds an advanced degree in economics, two honorary Knighthoods (British & Dutch), the U.S.A.'s highest civilian level award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a National Audubon Society award for saving an endangered species of desert turtle.

Wesley 'Weasel' Clark Was An Accomplice To Murder At Waco Clark tanks used in Waco siege Democrat candidate's role in attack on Branch Davidians questioned Posted: October 16, 2003 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35094

Editor's note: WorldNetDaily is pleased to have a content-sharing agreement with Insight magazine, the bold Washington publication not afraid to ruffle establishment feathers. Subscribe to Insight at WorldNetDaily's online store and save 71 percent off the cover price.

By Kelly Patricia O Meara © 2003 News World Communications Inc.

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark wants to be president and, given that he is a man who has worn many hats during his controversial rise through the ranks, many believe this qualifies him for the top political job. But serious questions abound about his actions as commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Army's III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, in 1993.

Clark has worn the hat of first-in-his-class graduate of West Point, Rhodes scholar, decorated Vietnam combat veteran, White House fellow, four-star general and even Supreme Commander of NATO – a post from which he was relieved.

There is one hat, though, that despite lingering suspicions and accusations Clark neither has confirmed nor denied wearing – a hat that many Americans might find very disturbing for a military man seeking the top civilian post in the U.S. government without first registering with either political party or being so much as elected dog catcher.

In his recently published book Winning Modern Wars, Clark proclaims that the "American way was not to rely on coercion and hard pressure but on persuasion and shared vision," which has been taken by Democratic Party doves to explain why the retired general has been an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. But while Clark may prefer a "kinder, gentler" persuasion in dealing with U.S. enemies abroad, critics are saying his actions at home should be reviewed before deciding whether he is qualified to be trusted with America's civil liberties.

For example, there is the 1993 siege of David Koresh's Mount Carmel commune in Waco, Texas, where four law-enforcement officers were killed and nearly 90 civilians – men, women and children – massacred by being shot and/or burned alive. Those seeking an investigation of his part in the Waco outrage say that Clark not only played a hidden role in the military-style assault on the Branch Davidians, but easily could have refused to participate in what was a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act that bars use of the U.S. military for civilian law-enforcement activities.

Although Clark never publicly has discussed his role in the attack on the Branch Davidians and did not respond to Insight's requests for an interview to discuss his role at Waco, there are indisputable facts that confirm he had knowledge of the grim plans to bring the standoff to an end.

Between August 1992 and April 1994, Clark was commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Army's III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas. According to a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the list of military personnel and equipment used at Waco included: 15 active-duty military personnel, 13 Texas National Guard personnel, nine Bradley fighting vehicles, five combat-engineer vehicles, one tank-retrieval vehicle and two M1A1 Abrams tanks. Additionally, Fort Hood reportedly was used for much of the training for the bloody attack on the Davidians and their children.

Based on the fact that military equipment from Fort Hood was used in the siege and that training was provided there, say critics, it is clear the commanding officer of the 1st Cavalry had direct knowledge of the attack and, more likely than not, was involved in the tactical planning.

West Point graduate Joseph Mehrten Jr. tells Insight that, "Clark had to have knowledge about the plan because there is no way anyone could have gotten combat vehicles off that base without his OK. The M1A1 Abrams armor is classified 'Secret,' and maybe even 'Top Secret,' and if it was deployed as muscle for something like Waco there would have been National Firearms Act weapons issues. Each of these M1A1 Abrams vehicles is armed with a 125-millimeter cannon, a 50-caliber machine gun and two 30-caliber machine guns, which are all very heavily controlled items, requiring controls much like a chain of legal custody. It is of critical importance that such vehicles could not have been moved for use at Waco without Clark's knowledge."

"This is something that the general staff would know in the daily situation report or manning reports. Clark would have known and, given his obsession for micromanagement, there is probably someone who can place him on the scene. He wouldn't have been able to resist going in. At the very least there is no way he didn't have knowledge," Mehrten continues.

So what if the general was aware that his military equipment was being used against American civilians, and so what if he even participated in the planning? Wasn't he just following orders from above?

"To follow that order," explains Mehrten, "is to follow a blatantly illegal order of a kind every West Point officer knows is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Clark's obligation was to say, 'No, I'm not going to do it.' Look, Clark went to the same institution I did and at West Point we had extensive instruction in military ethics and issues concerning how one avoids obeying an illegal military order. It is drilled into our heads from the earliest days as cadets that the 'I-was-just-following-orders' defense isn't necessarily a good one."

He had the juice to say no, concludes Mehrten, "and he could have and should have. But if he had done so he probably wouldn't have gotten his next star. There is a reason critics say this man was not recommended by the military for that fourth star but got it anyway because of political clout, just as there is a reason that Chief of Staff Hugh Shelton brought him home early from Europe because of 'character and integrity issues.' Sure the Bradley vehicle could have been operated by a civilian, but that's unlikely. This military equipment is very specialized and would be virtually useless in the hands of untrained operators. But just using military equipment against civilians is running way afoul of Posse Comitatus. Legally, if he were involved in it and there were active-duty units where these armored vehicles came from, then it is a clear violation of the act. Clark's command at the time, 1st Cavalry, is an active-duty federal division and it is my understanding that these vehicles used at Waco were from Fort Hood – his command."

Tom Fitton, president of the Washington-based Judicial Watch, believes Clark has some questions to answer.

"The question for Clark," explains Finton, "is a fair one in terms of corruption. Many Americans still are troubled by what occurred at Waco, and we're very interested in his role. Many people are going to ask what are his views of the force [attorney general] Janet Reno used at Waco and they'll want to know if he, were he to become president of the United States, would authorize that kind of force again. Specifically, was Gen. Clark comfortable allowing forces and equipment under his command to participate in a police raid or, at best, a hostage situation? People are going to want to know these things."

Michael McNulty, an investigative journalist and Oscar nominee for his documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement, tells Insight that, "From the standpoint of what went on that operation had military fingerprints all over it. The chain of command being what it is, Clark had some responsibility, but to what degree we really don't know."

McNulty takes a deep breath and then says, "My military sources tell me that Clark and his second in command got the communication from then-governor of Texas Ann Richards, who wanted help with Waco. At that point Clark or [Gen. Peter J.] Schoomaker should have asked themselves, 'Religious community? Civilians, they want our tanks?' and hung up the phone. Clark had to be involved at the tactical level, he had to know what the tactical plan was and he'd have to approve it. No one has ever asked these questions of this man. Clark wasn't even asked to testify before the congressional committee investigating the circumstances of Waco. For me the real question is one of character and, because of the cover-up that's gone on with Waco, it could even be a question of criminality. From the get-go, when the assignment came down from III Corps, which is the primary Army unit at Fort Hood and his division, Wesley Clark had the opportunity to say 'Hey, wait a minute folks, we're not gonna give tanks and personnel to the FBI to use on civilians!'"

True, explains McNulty, "Clark didn't do this in a vacuum. Whatever he did he at least is guilty of being a good German – following orders. He was in a position to put his foot down and say no. It was his men, his equipment and his command. Everything that happened at Waco, from the beginning, the U.S. military was involved – including the strategic and tactical planning that went on from Feb. 29 to April 19. Why weren't the guys making the decisions debriefed and questioned by the committee? I would hope that Clark would answer these questions now, the sooner the better, because it appears that Waco is about to follow him into the political arena full force."

Early life and education

Clark was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 23, 1944. His father, Benjamin J. Kanne, was a Democratic Chicago Councilman, World War I veteran, delegate at the 1932 Democratic National Convention (where Franklin Roosevelt was first nominated) and lawyer who died in 1948 when Wesley Clark was almost 4 years old.

Benjamin was the son of Jacob Kanne and Ida Goldman, immigrants from Russia (Clark's middle name, Kanne, refers to his grand father's lineage as a Kohen, a descendant of the ancient Jewish priests). 1

After the death, Veneta Updegraff Bogard Kanne, Clark's mother, who was a Methodist, returned to her Ubdegraff parents' home in Little Rock, Arkansas. Through the UpdeGraff line, Wesley Clark's ancestry goes back to American colonial, pre-revolutionary times and the Pennsylvania Dutch/Germans.Three of the "Original 13" who came over from the Dutch sector of Kresfeld Germany and were the first settlers of Pennsylvania were UpdeGraffs (OpdeGraeffs) and UpdGraffs fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Veneta, Clark's mother, went back to work as a bank teller/secretary, raising her son as a single working mother, with the help of Clark's maternal grandparents who worked in an Arkansas lumber mill. The death of Wes Clark's biological father left the nearly 4yr old Wes with a speech impediment that he would eventually overcome by the age of 7. During Clark's primary campaign in 2004, his cousin remarked that they grew up poor but that Clark always drove himself to study hard without any prodding from adults, a child consciously limiting his own play time so that he could go study. During this cold war era, he started learning Russian on his own because he wanted to understand how the other side thought. He stated that the only thing his deceased Democratic Party activist father left him was a navy uniform and a love of family and country. He would find his life's calling in John F. Kennedy's speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

In 1954, when Wesley was 9, Veneta married a former banker Victor Clark, who adopted Wesley.

Wesley grew up Baptist in Little Rock, attended public school, and was very active in the Boys and Girls club and in Southern Baptist Church activities and summer camps.

He graduated from Hall High School in Little Rock as valedictorian, having led the swim team to the state championship.2

Military career

Clark's acceptance letter to West Point.

In July 1962, at the age of 17, Clark entered the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, beginning his 38 years in the U.S. military. Here Clark met Gertrude "Gert" Kingston of Brooklyn at a dance when some of the West Point cadets "crashed" the dance given by the Annapolis U.S. Naval Academy cadets. Clark graduated from West Point as the valedictorian in June 1966, at the age of 21. As the first in his class, he earned the right to choose his branch of service first. Washington Post military-affairs reporter Rick Atkinson wrote:

"Now, an officer stood at the podium in South auditorium and began calling out names by class rank.
"Clark, Wesley K.
"Wes Clark stood up, the first to choose his branch. Brilliant and intense, he had ranked at the top of his class for three of the four years and would spend his first years after graduation at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.
"Armor! Clark declared.
"His classmates responded with a series of cheers and catcalls, which continued through each section."

Clark's class of 1966 would go on to distinguish themselves for bravery and sacrifice, holding the record for most combat casualties at the frontlines of Vietnam.

Clark married Gert Kingston, an Irish-American Catholic, and became a Roman Catholic (Clark now attends Presbyterian services with his wife when they are in Little Rock, but they both remain Roman Catholic.) Two months later, in August, Clark was on the road again, this time to complete his studies as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. There he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), earning a Master's Degree in August 1968.

Once home, he attended the Armor Officer Basic Course in the Army Armor School at Fort Knox until October and the Army Ranger Course in the Army Infantry School at Fort Benning until December.

The following year, Clark commanded A Company of the 4th Battalion, 68th Armor, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. In May, he was called to duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. For the rest of the year,Lieutenant Clark served in Vietnam as the Assistant Staff Officer (Assistant G-3) of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Infantry Division. In January, Clark was promoted to Captain, and was given command of a mechanized infantry unit — the A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

Clark's Silver Star citation.

The next month, February 1970, then 25, Clark was wounded by a sniper in the jungle. Ambushed by the Viet Cong, Clark was shot four times (in the right shoulder, right hand, right hip and right leg) before he could find cover. He managed to shout commands to troops, who launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy force. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star:

"As the friendly force maneuvered through the treacherous region, it was suddenly subjected to an intense small arms fire from a well-concealed insurgent element. Although painfully wounded in the initial volley, Captain Clark immediately directed his men on a counter-assault of the enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Captain Clark remained with his unit until the reactionary force arrived and the situation was well in hand. His courageous initiative and exemplary professionalism significantly contributed to the successful outcome of the engagement. Captain Clark's unquestionable valor in close combat against a hostile force is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

After a few days in hospital Clark was flown back to the States for two months of recuperation at Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania. It was there that he first saw his son, Wesley Jr, who had been born in his absence. “I saw him for the first time when he was four or five months old. I had a hook in my hand and it scared her when I tried to hold him. But he didn’t seem to mind.” It would take him another year of rehabilitation to recover from his injuries, which doctors had warned him would leave him with a permanent limp due to the large amount of muscle lost to his right calf. Clark refused this prognosis, teaching himself to walk again and to use his injured hand by teaching himself to play the piano. He would go on to occasionally receive perfect scores on his physical fitness tests throughout his career.

After recovering, Clark continued his military career (eventually qualifying and being confirmed up the line from Captain, to Major, to Colonel,to Brigadier General, which is also called 1-star General, and then, the 3 ranks up to 4-Star General).

From May to September 1970, Clark commanded the C Company, 6th Battalion, 32d Armor, 194th Armored Brigade at Fort Knox; from October of that year to May 1971 he commanded the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson. After this, Clark spent the June and July in Washington, DC as a Staff Officer in the Modern Volunteer Army program, working as a Special Assistant for the Chief of Staff. Clark later returned to West Point for three years as an instructor and Assistant Professor of Social Science.

After this, he graduated from the National War College and Command and General Staff College, as well as completing Armor Officer Advanced and Basic Courses and Army Ranger and Airborne schools.

From 1975 to 1976, Clark was a White House Fellow and served as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Later, he was an instructor and Assistant Professor of Social Science at West Point.

Clark commanded the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado and later trained there and in Germany. He became director of the Battle Command Training Program, and created the very first BCTP exercises. He was later promoted to general.

During the Persian Gulf War, Clark became Commander of the Army National Training Center, in charge of arranging the 1st Cavalry Division's three emergency deployments to Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.

Major General Clark, 1992.

In 1994, Clark was again promoted, and started working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff as 'Director for Strategic Plans and Policy'. During this time, Clark ensured that the United Nations and Department of Defense worked together during the invasion of Haiti.

From 1996 to 1997, General Clark served as the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Southern Command, responsible for all U.S. troops, their families, domestic infrastructure such as healthcare, education, social services, family counselling, commissaries (grocery stores) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

From 1997 to 2000, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. European Command (CINCEUR). As stipulated by international treaty, Clark also held the simultaneous position of Supreme Allied Commander(SACEUR), which is a NATO position that is independent of the U.S. chain of command, but always held by an American. As SACEUR, Clark also held Head of State status requiring meeting with other heads of state, and control over international NATO forces. Supreme Allied Commander of NATO was the same position held by Eisenhower immediately prior to his becoming President of the United States.

The U. S. Army once tested a thousand of its officers to see how well they extrapolated future trends from current patterns, and Clark, long before he became a General, finished in first place.

In the Balkans

Under the overall leadership of Richard Holbrooke, Clark headed the U.S. military team during negotiations that led to the Bosnian Peace Accords, in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1995, during the negotiation process, Clark and Holbrooke's diplomatic convoy was ambushed on a road by landmines and small arms fire, after Milosevic refused them safe passage. One of their jeeps crashed down a ravine and killed its passengers. Risking his life, Clark, then a 50 yr old man and 3-star general, rapelled down the ravine to search for survivors, admist enemy gunfire. He stayed with the burning jeep until help arrived, saving the wedding band of a dead soldier to personally return it to the soldier's widow. [2]

From 1997, he was head of the U.S. European Command (CINCEUR), responsible for about 109,000 U.S. troops, their families, health care, education, social services, and all related infrastructure, and all U.S. military activities in 89 countries and territories of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Simultaneous, he also occupied the separate NATO position of Supreme Allied Commander(SACEUR), which granted him Head of State status and overall command of NATO military forces in Europe and leadership of approximately 60,000 troops from 37 NATO and other nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

General Clark meeting with Assistant Secretary of Defense John Hamre, Brussels, December 1998.

As SACEUR, he confronted Yugoslavia over Kosovo. NATO's 78-day bombing campaign ended with the Kumanovo truce, a withdrawal of Yugoslav military and police force from Kosovo, and the entry of NATO and other Kosovo Force soldiers. In December 2003, Clark testified at Milosevic's trial in the International Criminal Tribunal. His appearance was not public and transcripts of his testimony were subject to U.S. review before being released, a precaution the Bush Administration didn't take when Madeleine Albright testified. The timing of this precaution during the height of Clark's primary campaign led many to speculate that Bush ordered this precaution to prevent Clark from getting publicity and airtime. Clark's testimony was sought because he had spoken with Milosevic for a total of more than 100 hours, in his role as the head of the U.S. military team during the Dayton Agreement negotiations and as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Another controversial part of Clark's command in Kosovo came after the end of the military campaign and involved the use of a Kosovo airfield by the Russian military. After a small Russian force suspiciously left their peacekeeping station in Bosnia unannounced and took control of the Slatina airfield, near Pristina, on June 10, 1999, there was a "battle of wills" between Clark and the British NATO commander, Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson. Clark ordered British forces to block the runways to the airfield, to prevent the Russian troops from being resupplied from their homeland. This maneuver would have been one step short of hostile, and Jackson did not comply, reportedly later saying: "I'm not going to start the Third World War for you."

Clark, in an NPR interview, said that the incident was a surprising moment for him. Clark stated that his order to block the runways was refused by an emotional Jackson and that he took the matter up the British chain of command. In his book Waging Modern War, Clark says Jackson protested, "Sir, I'm a three-star general; you can't give me orders like this," and that he responded, "Mike, I'm a four-star general, and I can tell you these things."

Clark stated that General Sir Charles Guthrie, British Chief of the Defence Staff, agreed with Jackson. Guthrie, according to Clark, also told him that Hugh Shelton, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also agreed with him. Clark said he found this very surprising, contending that the original suggestion to block the Russians came from Washington. Clark stated that he called the Pentagon, looking for support, and was told by Shelton: "We don't want a confrontation, but I do support you." Clark said that he told Shelton: "Then you've got a policy problem". Clark maintained in the NPR interview that the matter was a difference in the perception of the policy between the US administration and the British government. Clark said he believed he was carrying out the suggestions of the administration in Washington.

The Clinton administration later persuaded Hungary and Romania to deny Russia flight over their airspace, preventing the Russians from landing transport planes carrying reinforcements to their troops at Pristina. In July 1999, the Russians agreed to integrate their forces into NATO's operations.

John McCain would go on to say that later intelligence reports of massed Russian troops waiting for airlift to enter Kosovo and split control from NATO proved Clark's assessment of the situation with the Russians to be correct. Colonel Hackworth, a decorated veteran and respected journalist, who initially blamed Clark would later recant and said that Clark did nothing wrong, and that the fault for the miscommunication laid squarely with the Republicans Bill Cohen and Hugh Shelton. [3]

Presidential candidacy

Clark's campaign logo
Clark's campaign logo

After retiring from the army, Clark worked as a military and international affairs analyst, including a stint as a commentator for CNN. He began preparations for a Democratic 2004 presidential candidacy in 2002, including visits to the all-important first primary state of New Hampshire.

In March of 2003, DraftWesleyClark.com began a nationwide campaign to "draft Clark" for the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2004 presidential election. By August 2003, the movement had grown to include several draft groups working on this behalf. Also by this time, DraftWesleyClark.com had raised nearly $2,000,000 in "pledges" for a potential Clark candidacy.

CNN on 13 August showed a commercial by DraftWesleyClark.com, and interviewed Clark. He disavowed any connection with the "draft Clark" groups, but said he had been considering his position and that within a few weeks he would likely make public his decision on whether or not to run. He also fueled speculation with a television interview in which he first declared himself a Democrat.

On September 17, 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Clark announced his intention to run in the presidential primary election for the Democratic Party nomination, becoming the tenth and last Democrat to do so (coming many months after the others): "My name is Wes Clark. I am from Little Rock, Arkansas, and I am here to announce that I intend to seek the presidency of the United States of America." He said, "We're going to run a campaign that will move this country forward, not back."

His campaign focused on themes of leadership and patriotism; early campaign ads relied heavily on biography. His late start left him with relatively few detailed policy proposals. This weakness was apparent in his first few debates, although he soon presented a range of position papers, including a major tax-relief plan. Many Democrats flocked to his campaign. They were drawn by his impressive military background, and saw such foreign policy credentials as a valuable asset in challenging George W. Bush post-11 September. Advisors and supporters portrayed him as more electable than Howard Dean, who was the frontrunner for the party's nomination up until the Iowa caucus.

Criticism of Clark began almost the moment he entered the race. Originally heralded as an anti-war general, he stumbled in the first few days of his candidacy. He was perceived as changing his answer on how he would have voted on the Iraq war resolution. His supporters argued that his perceived indecision was due to lack of experience with the media and their insistence on short "sound bite" answers.

As an Independent throughout his military career, Wesley Clark affiliated himself with the Democratic Party in 2003. Clark stated that he voted for Republican candidates in the past, including Presidents Nixon and Reagan, as well as Democratic candidates, Clinton and Gore. He previously made critical comments about the Bush administration and its foreign policy team, including one at a GOP fundraiser in 2001. However, Clark had been a strong critic of President Bush's war with Iraq, which he argued was not part of the war on terror. In September 2002, Clark gave testimony before the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) at Capital Hill, where he warned that the Bush Administration's Iraq war policy would be flawed without a comprehensive strategic foreign policy to stabilize Iraq after the ouster of the Saddam regime. In April 2005, Clark again appeared before the HASC , where he again outlined suggestions for Congress towards how to deal with the Iraq quagmire. He was praised by members of both parties for his keen foresight and predictions regarding costs and consequences of the Iraq war and in US foreign policy.

In answer, Clark supporters emphasized the progressive character of his policy positions. A frequent refrain, echoed in the campaign's official "Talking Points for Supporters," is that he is "pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-environment, pro-health care, and pro-labor."

Clark was supported by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, as well as pop singer Madonna, who held a fundraiser for his campaign at her Los Angeles home, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, and many other widely known Americans. He had also received an Audubon Award for helping to save an endangered species at one of the bases he commanded, and was endorsed by the founder of Earthday, 55 diplomats, human rights activists like Samantha Powers, civil rights activists, and the whistleblower who helped expose Enron's corruption.

In a 30-second campaign commercial aimed at young people released October 30, 2003, his presidential campaign made reference to the hip hop duo OutKast. In the ad, Clark is sitting in a coffee shop with a dozen middle-class young adults of various American ethnicities. The young adults do not speak, but sit and listen as Clark appears to be answering their questions. "Well, to answer your questions, no, I would not have voted for the Iraq war...I am pro-choice and I am a strong believer in Affirmative Action...And I don't care what the other candidates say, I don't think OutKast is really breaking up. Andre 3000 and Big Boi just cut solo records, that's all." The last comment prompts a blond-bearded young man to say approvingly "all right" and to tap fists with Clark.

Clark's campaign also made an aggressive effort to develop a strong base of Meetup users, starting in November, 2003, and "Clark in 2004" was soon the second most popular Meetup topic, immediately following "Dean in 2004".

His campaign developed a very strong Internet following which was brought together with an ambitious Web initiative: the Clark Community Network, an integrated system of blogs and Web tools. Its E-Blocks, and campaign train allowed Clark to raise $10 million (of a total of $29.5 million) in the forth quarter of 2003, raising more money than any other candidate during that quarter. This innovative technology was cutting edge, but largely overlooked by media excitement over the Dean Internet strategy.

In January of 2004, he decided to bypass campaigning in the Iowa caucus, instead focusing his campaign to win or place second in New Hampshire, and announced a plan that would raise taxes on upper-income individuals in order to cut income taxes for "all families of four earning below $50,000". His son later mused that the former was a fatal mistake. Clark focused on winning New Hampshire, or placing second to Dean, to position himself to defeat presumed frontrunner Dean, but when John Kerry and John Edwards each placed ahead of Dean in the Iowa caucuses, they drew the media focus in the days immediately before the New Hampshire primary. Clark took third place in New Hampshire, behind New Englanders Kerry and Dean, and ahead of Edwards despite the Kerry/Edwards momentum from Iowa. The younger Clark suggested that had Clark remained a candidate in Iowa he, instead of Kerry and Edwards, might have benefited from Dean's drop in support.

Despite this setback, Clark decided to remain in the race, at least until February 3, when 8 primaries — many in the South, Clark's regional base — would be held. During the February 3 contests, he won the Oklahoma primary, making him the only candidate other than John Kerry to win a non-"home" state. He also placed second in Arizona, North Dakota, and New Mexico, giving him more second place finishes in the Feb 3rd primaries than John Edwards, who would become the eventual vice-presidential nominee. Following 3 February, he moved on to campaign in Tennessee and Virginia, states he hoped would provide him the necessary momentum to remain in the race. After placing third in the primaries in both Tennessee and Virginia, he withdrew from the race on February 11, 2004. A day after his withdrawal, Clark announced he would endorse John Kerry, at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

Although 2004 was Wes Clark's first run for office, where he started a year or two behind everyone else, entering the race after the first Democratic Primary debate had already occurred, he ended up surpassing many experienced campaigners who had solid national reputations, years of elective experience, and established fundraising and campaign staffs. [4] He is considered a prospective presidential candidate for 2008.

After the primaries

Following Clark's endorsement of John Kerry, he engaged in fundraising and spoke out against the Bush administration and their handling of Iraq. He wrote extensive editorial articles, made frequent appearances on televised political talk shows, and founded a new political action committee called WesPAC.

In addition, he has maintained a very strong following of dedicated supporters who discuss and spread his ideals presented during the primaries. They have called themselves "Clarkies", "Clarkistas," , Clark Democrats, Wes Clark Democrats, or Wes Wingers. Many continue their active support for him, as "Clark Bloggers," through the Clark Community Network (CCN), Clark Volunteers, A Wes Clark Democrat, various Yahoo Groups, DailyKos, MyDD, DemocraticUnderground, and numerous other progressive online venues and blogs.

Following John Kerry's defeat in the 2004 election, Wesley Clark is viewed as a possible Democratic Party candidate for President or Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, one who can unite the various factions of the Democratic party, as well as bringing in independents and moderate Republican voters.

In June 2005 Fox News Channel announced that they had signed General Clark as a military and foreign affairs analyst.

Clark believes that it is essential to the health of America's democracy to reestablish a multiparty system where one party does not control all three branches of government. Towards this end, he has devoted the bulk of his time to fundraising and campaigning for Democratic candidates and local grassroots establishments across the country, especially in traditionally Republican areas, in the hopes of winning at least one of the two chambers of congress. This drive is reflected in the heavy schedule he has maintained in helping Democrats:

  • partial list of Clark's Democratic events in 2005[5]
  • partial list of Clark's Democratic events in 2006[6].

Life events

  • 1948 Father dies when Wes is not yet 4 years old. Family moves back to Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • 1962 Graduates from Hall High and enters West Point
  • 1966 June, Marries Gertrude Kingston.
  • 1969-1970 Commander of a mechanized infantry company in combat in Vietnam wounded four times receiving Purple Heart and Silver Star
  • 1975-6 White House Fellow, Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
  • 1994-6 Director of the Pentagon's Strategic Plans and Policy operation, responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for world-wide politico-military affairs and U.S. military strategic planning. Led the military negotiations for the Bosnian Peace Accords at Dayton.
  • 1996-7 Commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command, Panama, controlling all U.S. forces & most U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • 1997-2000 Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (SACEUR), and Commander-in-Chief for the United States European Command (CINCEUR).
  • June 2000 Retires from military service
  • July 2000 Senior adviser at CSIS
  • 2000-2, Corporate consultant for Little Rock-based Stephens Group Inc. helps develop emerging-technology companies.
  • 2003 17 September, Announces candidacy to become the Democratic Party nominee for President
  • 2004 11 February, Withdraws from race for Democratic Party Presidential nominee

Current and Former Offices

This list is not complete

  • Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a business services and development firm based in Little Rock
  • Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor, James Lee Witt Associates, an emergency management and homeland security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.
  • Founder & Chairman of "Leadership for America", an independent non-partisan, non-profit organization "fostering the national dialogue about America's future"
  • Senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Director of the Atlantic Council
  • Board member of the International Crisis Group
  • Senior military analyst for CNN, commenting on the US anti-terrorism activities, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and foreign policy
  • (As of June 2005) Expert Military and Foreign Affairs Analyst, Fox News Channel
  • Advisor, US Congress Democratic National Security Advisory Group
  • Advisor, General Accounting Office (GAO)
  • Advisor, ManyOne Network, Digital Universe web browser
  • Congressional Task Force on United Nations Reform
  • "Healthy Homes, Smart Neighborhoods" Task Force on sustainable housing in post-Katrina Gulf Coast areas - Global Green
  • Vice Chairman, International Crisis Group
  • Board of Advisors, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) PAC, a nonpartisan group dedicated to electing Iraq/Aghanistan war veterans to congress
  • Chairman of Rodman Renshaw holdings, a small broker-dealer specializing in financing for small biotech companies
  • CEO, Wavecrest Laboratories, a company developing pollutionless engines for electric bikes
  • Chairman, Project H.E.R.O., a national program to retrofit homes to be wheel-chair and otherwise accessible for disabled veterans

Military decorations

Other honors

Noteworthy Speeches

Books and publications

  • Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Retd) (2001). Waging Modern War:Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1586482777. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  • Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Retd) (2004). Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire. Public Affairs. ISBN 158648043X.
  • Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Retd) (Series Editor) (2006). Great Generals series. Palgrave Macmillan. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Noteworthy Articles written by Wesley K. Clark

Retired General Clark has written numerous articles published in newspapers and magazines. Below is just a sampling.

  • Real Tax Reform Originally published The Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2004

Multimedia

  • American Son -- Biopic presenting the lifestory of Wes Clark, created and used during 2004 primary campaign.
  • TV Appearances-- Collection of video clips, audio files, and transcripts of TV appearances by Clark
  • Radio Interviews -- Audio files of Clark's radio interviews
  • ClarkCasts -- a series of weekly podcasts by Clark available for free from iTunes or WesPac. You can subscribe (free) via the iTunes Music Store or WesPac, or get the mp3 file directly from WesPac. Within three weeks of its launching, ClarkCast became ranked at #1 in number of subscriptions and popularity in the Political Podcast category by iTunes, surpasssing Sean Hannity, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

Notes

1 For more information on Clark's Jewish heritage and his religious views in general, see the following:

Kampeas, Ron. "Latest contender for president comes from long line of rabbis." JTA News] 17 September 2003
Kampeas, Ron. "What´s in a name? For Clark, clues to his Jewish heritage." JTA News] 14 October 2003
Kampeas, Ron. "Rabbinical past revised: Wesley Clark corrects Jewish heritage remarks." JTA News] 17 October 2003
Clark, Wesley. Interview with Steven Waldman. Beliefnet.

¹The following references report the confrontation. Clark devotes an entire chapter to the incident in his book Waging Modern War (Chap. 15).

2 During one of his schooling years, Wes temporarily went to another school which he discovered had swimming. Upon returning to his own school, he discovered that they had no swim team. He set about creating a swim team even though they had no pool, no team, no coach, and no swimming lessons. He would go on to lead this team to win the state championship. On the day of the relay medley contest, one of the members fell ill. Short of the requisite number of teammates, they were about to be disqualified. Wes Clark convinced the judges to let them replaced the sick member by letting Wes swim not just his own leg of the race, but that of the sick member as well, thus leading his team to victory by swimming twice as hard and long.

Sources

  • Politics1 page, listing most of his endorsements: http://politics1.com/clark.htm
  • Atkinson, Rick. The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966. 1999. ISBN 0805062912.
  • Clark For President. [7] (archived)
  • Clark, Wesley K. Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. 2002. ISBN 1586481398.
  • Clark, Wesley K. Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire. 2003. ISBN 1586482181.
  • Felix, Antonia. Wesley K. Clark: A Biography. 2004. ISBN 1557046255.
  • Junod, Tom. "The General." Esquire. August 2003: Volume 140, Issue 2.[8]
  • Demopedia Wiki on Wes Clark

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wesley Clark.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Wesley Clark.
Preceded by Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO)
1997—2000 		Succeeded by

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