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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (4871)	9/18/2003 7:02:44 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

GENERAL WESLEY K. CLARK US Army (retired) General Wesley K. Clark is one of the nation's most distinguished retired military officers. During his thirty four years of service in the United States Army, he held numerous staff and command positions, rising to the rank of 4-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander. From 1997 through May of 2000, General Clark was NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command. In this position, General Clark commanded Operation Allied Force, NATO’s first major combat action, which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. From 1996 to 1997 General Clark served as Commander in Chief of the United States Southern Command, Panama, where he was responsible for the direction of U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. From 1994 to 1996, he served as Director for Strategic Plans and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff with responsibilities for worldwide U.S. military strategic planning. General Clark is a 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated first in his class. He holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. General Clark is a recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military awards, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He has received honorary Knighthoods from the British and Dutch governments and was made a commander of the French Legion of Honor. In August 2000, General Clark was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. An acclaimed public speaker and commentator for CNN, General Clark is the author of the best-selling Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat (Public Affairs, New York, NY, 2001). General Clark is also licensed as an investment banker. He joined Stephens Inc. as a consultant in July of 2000 and was named Managing Director – Merchant Banking of Stephens Group, Inc. from March 2001 through February 2003. He is currently the chairman of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm. He and his wife Gert live in Little Rock, Arkansas where he grew up and graduated from high school. They have one son, Wesley, who lives in New York City. leadershipforamerica.org

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (4871)	9/18/2003 7:04:13 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Clark's long march uphill After considering the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the field, retired Gen. Wesley Clark yesterday became the 10th Democrat to seek the party's nomination to take on President Bush at the polls next year. With Mr. Bush's approval ratings slipping and Democrats feeling more comfortable criticizing a war president, it makes sense that a man with military experience might add credibility to the opposition ticket. Mr. Clark's curriculum vitae could put Republicans on the defensive about defense policies, but we're not convinced his candidacy will pack much firepower. One undeniably attractive quality Mr. Clark offers is his record during the Vietnam War, where he was honored with the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. After this youthful heroism, however, his abilities as an officer have received constant criticism. One retired four-star general called his ideas for command "goofy," and told The Washington Post that, "The simple fact is, a lot of people just don't trust his ability." One soldier who served under Mr. Clark told us that, "It was obvious that his only priority was his own advancement, and his troops were just tools to help him climb up the ranks." During this campaign, expect to hear a steady flow of criticism from soldiers who worked around him. Mr. Clark's reputation among his own men caused Col. David Hackworth, the most decorated living American soldier, to question him for getting promotions through "the political route. He didn't have the kind of assignments that a real muddy-boots grunt would have, someone like Schwarzkopf." This career track is blamed for some of his strategic combat blunders, the most notorious of which was his plan to confront Russian troops who had seized the Pristina airport during the Balkan war. British Gen. Mike Jackson committed insubordination in refusing Mr. Clark's orders, saying, "I'm not going to start the Third World War for you." This is not a pretty anecdote for a candidate whose main selling point is his military mind. An even more significant obstacle could be that Mr. Clark does not offer much of a political alternative to the other Democratic candidates. Many Democratic operatives are desperate to beat the ultra-liberal Howard Dean, who is now the frontrunnner. His two main constituencies are antiwar activists and other progressive activists (especially advocates for gay rights) — two groups to which the former general does not promise to hold much appeal. That makes him merely one of the nine anti-Dean choices fighting for the same pool of votes. Mr. Clark still has minimal name recognition with the public. Also, as an amateur in politics, like so many before him, Mr. Clark is likely to make many mistakes. Some may consider politics a black art, but it is an art nonetheless. Nor does having four stars on one's shoulders guarantee success in politics. Since the Civil War, only two generals have been elected president without first holding another elected office. The two who went directly from the generalship to the presidency were Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant, who respectively defeated Hitler and saved the union. By comparison, all Mr. Clark has done as commander is order bombs to be dropped on a more or less defenseless Serbian civilian population. In the period since World War I, only one other man has made it to the White House without previous experience in elected office — and that candidate, Herbert Hoover, was a worldwide icon for helping Europe get back on its feet after the Great War. If history is any measure, Hurricane Wesley might have slammed into Arkansas yesterday, but it can be expected to lose strength as it advances.