VP Profile: Wesley Clark
May 26th, 2008 -- Posted in American Politics | 6 Comments »Well I will admit I know even less about General Wesley Clark than I do Kathleen Sebelius however he needs to be mentioned since to the best of my research, he seems to be on the short list of potential VP candidates. The primary reason for him being included is that he is a former 4-star General of the United States Army hence having significant experience within the military and the Department of Defense. This experience would prove critical to Senator Obama who is seen by many people as not being particularly strong on national security compared to Senator McCain who has firsthand experience when it comes to military matters. From the Wesley Clark 2004 Presidential Website:
General Clark was born Wesley Kanne in Chicago on December 23, 1944. His father Benjamin died on December 6, 1948, following which his mother then moved the family to Little Rock, Arkansas. Once in Little Rock, Veneta married Viktor Clark, whom she met while working as a secretary for a local bank. Viktor raised Wesley as his son, and officially adopted him on Wesley’s 16th birthday. Wesley’s name was changed to Wesley Kanne Clark. Viktor Clark’s name actually replaced that of Wesley’s biological father on his birth certificate, something Wesley would later say that he wished they had not done. Veneta raised Wesley without telling him of his Jewish ancestry to protect him from the anti-Semitic activities of the Ku Klux Klan occurring in the South at the time. Although his mother was Methodist, Clark chose a Baptist church after moving to Little Rock and continued attending it throughout his childhood.
He graduated from Hall High School with a National Merit Scholarship, and helped take their swim team to the state championship, filling in for a sick teammate by swimming two legs of a relay. Clark has often repeated the anecdote that he decided he wanted to go to West Point after meeting a cadet with glasses who told Clark (who wore glasses as well) that one did not need perfect vision to attend West Point as Clark had thought. Clark applied, and received his acceptance letter on April 24, 1962. After leaving West Point, Wesley Clark climbed the ranks of the military relatively fast and his commanding officer at Fort Hood called him one of the army’s best and the brightest.
General Clark retired from the Military in May 2, 2000 and founded Wesley K. Clark & Associates in March 2003 which is a Strategic Consulting Firm. General Clark is also the vice-chairman and senior advisor for James Lee Witt & Associates; a crisis and emergency management firm in Washington D.C.The General is amazingly smart but endorsed Senator Clinton in 2007 so I don’t quite understand how he can be on the short list of potential candidates. That being said, he has a stellar military record with an understanding of every major conflict the United States has been involved in, going back 50 years.
General Clark is not without his share of controversy as a few sites seemed to suggest that he was forced to retire early from the Army. He is also on the board of several private corporations which is not something Senator Obama would like to have in a potential VP. Lastly the dissidentvoice.org has some interesting statements from General Clark which include him supporting President Bush in Iraq, and then later on stating that the invasion was a bad idea.
I like the General overall because he is smart, savvy and knows how to get things done in the Military ecosystem, however he seems to be tied to a few questionable companies and may not be the kind of person that Senator Obama needs in a VP. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say he has less than a 30% chance of becoming the potential running mate of Senator Obama.
*Thanks to Kim Fuller for the correction regarding James Lee Witt & Associates
