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: English, Spanish, German, 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.^* 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 military service and southern heritage.

Besides his many military decorations (both foreign and domestic), Wes Clark also holds an advanced degree in economics, several honorary Knighthoods, the USA'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.

More on [ Wesley Clark ]

NewsHour with Jim Lehrer | Politics Coverage | PBS

Shields and Brooks Assess New Dynamics of '08 Race
With both national party conventions now complete, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama hit the ground running as the race begins to Election Day. Analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss the road ahead.
McCain, Palin Speeches Draw Strong Interest, Shift Tone of Election
More than 42 million people tuned in Thursday to see John McCain's acceptance speech, matching the number who watched Barack Obama's speech last week. A panel of editors and columnists weigh how the GOP event was received across the country.
Judges Reinstated in Pakistan Ahead of Election
Three Supreme Court judges ousted by outgoing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf were sworn back into the court a day ahead of Saturday's presidential election.

Subscribe to Politics RSS feed