General Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark
Clark between circa 1997 and 2000
Birth name	Wesley Kanne
Born	(1944-12-23) December 23, 1944 (age 72) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1966–2000
Rank	General
Commands held	Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe United States European Command United States Southern Command
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Kosovo War
Awards	See all
Spouse(s)	Gertrude Kingston (1966–current)

Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr. (born December 23, 1944) is a retired General of the United States Army. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He later graduated from the Command and General Staff College with a master's degree in military science. He spent 34 years in the U.S. Army, receiving many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Clark commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War during his term as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000.

Clark joined the 2004 race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination as a candidate in 2003, but withdrew from the primary race in 2004, after winning the Oklahoma state primary, endorsing and campaigning for the eventual Democratic nominee, John Kerry. Clark leads a political action committee, "WesPAC", which he formed after the 2004 primaries and used to support Democratic Party candidates in the 2006 midterm elections. Clark was considered a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008, but, on September 15, 2007, endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton. After Clinton dropped out of the presidential race, Clark endorsed the then-presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. Clark serves as the co-chairman of Growth Energy, an ethanol lobbying group, and is on the board of directors of BNK Petroleum. Since July 2012, he also acts as an honorary special advisor to Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta on economic and security matters.