Biography
American politician and retired military man, Clark declared his candidacy for the
Democratic nomination for U.S. President on September 17, 2003 in Little Rock Arkansas.
Months before, a “draft Clark” movement had surged, and, after much media speculation, Clark
entered the race, reportedly with the support and advice of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
His detractors quickly pointed up his waffling on key issues, like his position on the Iraq War,
and attacks on his personality and leadership style have diminished his initial strong showing in
the polls.
Although Clark spent most of his career in the U.S. Army, he is no stranger to Washington politics,
having served as Supreme Allied Commander for Europe from 1997 until May, 2000. He led the charge in
1999 to turn Kosovo away from Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia, heading up an unwieldy NATO alliance and
an ambivalent American military establishment. Clark is often credited with winning NATO’s only war. He
is as often criticized for his mistakes and misjudgments frequently stemming from his unyielding
sense of “rightness” and a disregard for others’ conflicting opinions. He may be respected for
his brilliance and analytical thinking, but is not always liked. Pentagon brass as well as
subordinates and peers have called him brash, cocky, self-absorbed, hard on subordinates all the
while praising the drive, intelligence and talent that fueled his success. Clark was forced to leave
his term four months early most likely because of his frequent clashes with the Pentagon over
resources, tactics and his job description. At least two top generals, Tommy Franks and Hugh Shelton,
Clark’s boss in 1999, are openly critical of him. Shelton said, without giving specifics, “I will tell
you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that
are very near and dear to my heart…Wes won’t get my vote.” One of his defenders, Richard Holbrooke,
Clinton’s special envoy to Bosnia, attributes the criticism of Clark to jealousy over his
achievements.
Clark’s father, Benjamin Kanne, a Russian-Jewish lawyer, died when Clark was 5, and he and his
mother Veneta moved back to her native Arkansas where she married Vincent Clark, a former banker.
Wesley was raised there, a Southern Baptist, later converting to Catholicism, his wife’s religion.
He attended high school in Little Rock amid serious racial tensions, spending two years in a private
school. He graduated from the public high school, however, a dedicated swimmer who helped win the
state championship by swimming two laps of what was supposed to be a four-man relay.
He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1966, first in his class. After
earning his M.S. at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, he fought in Viet Nam as an infantryman. On
February 19, 1970, he was wounded in the shoulder, hand, hip and leg and sustained wounds from three
other incidents as well. Determined that his injuries not mark him, he successfully overcame through
exercise and sheer will the limp and flaccid arm that might otherwise be with him today. With his
34 years in the Army, in staff and command positions, he achieved the rank of Four Star General. From
1994 to 1996, he acted as Director for Strategic Plans and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staffs and,
from 1996 to 1997, he served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama. In the
summer of 2000, after leaving the military, he joined a financial services firm where he became
Managing Director in March 2001. He left that position in February 2003 to open his own firm, where
he was chairman of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm. He is the
recipient of several U.S. and foreign awards and medals, including The Purple Heart, Silver Star and
Bronze Star, the French Legion of Honor, and, in 2000, the highest U.S. civilian award, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Clark is the author of two books, “Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat,”
published in 2001 and “Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire” released in 2003.
He married Gertrude Kingston in 1967 and they have one son, Wesley, a screenwriter who lives in
Los Angeles with his wife Astrid.
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For More Information on the Web:
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Quotes:
- One can only invoke the Michael Kinsley adage that politicians' "gaffes" are nothing but inadvertent bursts of truth telling, for
which the gaffers are inevitably forced to apologize.
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What Do You Think?
If presidential campaigns were won on sheer brainpower, Wesley Clark
would be the undisputed Democratic frontrunner. Clark was a Rhodes Scholar
and graduated at the top of his class at West Point. He was drafted into the
presidential race by Democrats who were looking for a tougher and more
“electable” candidate for the 2004 race against Bush.
A thorough review of Clark’s career, however, reveals a few tarnishes on
the brass. A number of former co-workers have come forth, claiming that he
is not a very likeable person. He has a reputation for being overly
confident in his viewpoints, and for being a poor listener. No one is always
right, these former cohorts point out, and it’s infuriating to interact with
someone who believes he is.
- What gives this man such self-confidence?
- He has passed on the Iowa caucuses and his campaign seems to be fading
somewhat. However, Pluto is coming up to conjoin his Mars during the
early primaries, the Democratic convention, and November 2004. Does this
bode well for a Clark resurgence?
- As so often happens, Clark’s greatest strength is also his greatest
weakness. He’s got a general’s confidence-inspiring willpower, but this
fierce demeanor doesn’t invite likeability. (He practices “sleep
discipline”. He wraps his arms, closes his eyes, and goes right to
sleep.) Can you find the dominating willpower in his chart?
By the way, Betsy Stang got Wesley Clark’s birth time by simply asking him
for it at a fundraiser. Could someone please do the same for Dean and
Edwards. If you get either candidate’s time of birth from a reliable source,
please send it to Pat Taglilatelo at Pat@AstroDatabank. The entire astrological community will thank you!
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