About General Wesley Clark

Biography | In the News | Clark on Domestic Issues | Leadership for America (official Clark site)

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-three 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. Now in the private sector, General Clark is chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm, serves on the boards of several private corporations and non-profit organizations and comments regularly on politics, diplomacy and public affairs.

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.

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.

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).

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.