Vincent Clark This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Abilene Reporter News: Political

   www.reporternews.com/abil/nw_p - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/17/2003   Last Visited: 9/19/2003

   Ex-NATO commander, TV analyst Clark is relatively unknown in race
   ...
   Clark, the ex military man and former CNN commentator, met with political advisers in Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday and told them he would make a late entry into the Democratic presidential field today as a first-time candidate, people at the meeting said.
   
   He's known mostly for his role as supreme allied commander of NATO forces during the Kosovo conflict, and his visibility as a TV military analyst and a Bush administration critic before, during, and after the war in Iraq.
   
   Beyond that, Clark has spent much of the last year being coy - about when he would announce, whether he would announce, and, for months, whether he was even a Democrat.
   ...
   Clark, 58, also served there. But he has opposed the war against Iraq, making it possible that he could draw antiwar voters away from Dean, whose surge started with his criticism of the invasion.
   
   Both Dean and Clark have also won the affections of Web-savvy activists who have boosted their prospects.
   
   Clark could compete for Southern voters with Edwards, who is from North Carolina, and Graham, of Florida.
   ...
   Tellingly, Edward's announcement of his entry into the presidential race on Tuesday was overshadowed by the news of Clark.
   
   To organizers of the Internet-based movement to draft Clark into the race, it doesn't matter that their candidate has taken few political positions.
   
   They have culled his many media interviews to compile a list of liberal-to-moderate political stances: He supports affirmative action and abortion rights, and says he disapproved of the Bush administration's tax cuts.
   
   Above all, they have touted Clark's military record, from his first-in-his-class finish at West Point in 1966 to his tour as an infantryman and unit commander in Vietnam, to his rise to the helm of NATO from July 1997 to April 2000.
   
   Clark's opponents may focus on that NATO tenure as well - particularly his controversial exit from the Pentagon, when he received orders to leave his term four months early to make way for a replacement favored by the Pentagon brass. The order followed months of tension between Clark and senior officials at the Pentagon, some of whom bristled at what they considered his abrasive approach.
   ...
   Clark was born on Dec. 23, 1944, in Chicago, the son of Benjamin Kanne, a Russian-Jewish lawyer who died when Clark was 5. Clark's mother, Veneta, then moved back to her native Arkansas, and later married Vincent Clark, a former banker.

2. 2. Draft Clark 2004 - News Articles

   www.draftclark2004.com/news_de - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/15/2003   Last Visited: 6/5/2004

   In Little Rock, Veneta met Vincent Clark, a banker, and remarried. He gave Clark his surname. Clark, whose birth father was Jewish, never knew of his roots until later in life when a member of the Kanne family contacted him. He grew up Southern Baptist and converted to Catholicism before going to Vietnam. These days, he attends a Little Rock Presbyterian church with his wife of 30-plus years, Gert.
   ...
   Clark grew up in Little Rock during the Central High integration crisis of 1957. When the city's schools closed over the crisis, Clark's parents sent him away during his 10th-grade year to Castle Heights Military School in Lebanon, Tenn. He returned a year later to Little Rock's Hall High.
   
   A look through high school yearbooks shows Clark was building an impressive resume at an early age.
   
   He was National Honor Society president, Math Club secretary, swim team captain, a member of Boys State, a National Merit Semifinalist, an editorial board member of the school newspaper, a member of Beta Club, the Science and Engineer Club, Key Club and Garland Forensics Society (debate team).
   ...
   Through a year of intense physical therapy, Clark taught himself to walk again, although a quarter of his calf muscle was gone. He also mastered a firm handshake, despite the missing muscle around his right thumb.
   
   From there, he climbed to the military's highest ranks.
   
   Admired GI Joe
   
   In person, Clark has a contained charisma and seems the calm GI Joe, always in control. Friendly but cautious, Clark, a keen wit, will crack the casual joke while multitasking on his BlackBerry, taking notes about the economy and talking world affairs.
   
   Clark's friends and associates say he is determined, a visionary, 20 years ahead of his time. He is also still fiercely admired, especially by those in Little Rock.
   
   John Wilkes was friends with Clark at Hall High, and recalls him as brilliant and considerate.
   ...
   Wilkes also recalls that his younger sister was in love with Clark.
   ...
   Wilkes never forgot Clark, although the two boys lost touch with each other.
   ...
   "It's just the kind of person Clark is. You remember him, admire him."
   
   Clark left the military in 2000 after a political skirmish over the conduct of the war in Kosovo. He needed more ground troops in Kosovo. Washington was opposed. He went public. The chasm grew between Clark and Washington. The war in Kosovo ended, and Clark was a star in Europe. But the Clinton administration seemed lost about what to do with Clark. He was relieved of his command; nine months after that order, he retired.
   
   His abrupt return to the civilian world was cushioned by a job with Arkansas-based brokerage house Stephens Inc. as well as a contract as a military analyst with CNN.
   
   He left Stephens this year to start his own consulting and strategy business. He left his CNN job in June. Clark hasn't disclosed how much money he made at either of those jobs.
   
   Rollie Remmel befriended Clark in 1999 at a sister-city meeting between Mons, Belgium, where Clark was based, and Little Rock. Remmel, a wealthy, elderly Republican businessman, has since become business and hunting partners with Clark.
   
   Remmel leased Clark an office in a building he owns. The pair, along with two other investors, worked with researchers to develop a cattle feed made from agricultural byproducts. It has a patent pending.
   
   Clark also is chairman of Wave crest Laboratories, a leading-edge technology company in Dulles, Va., that has developed an electric propulsion system. The goal: to put electric motors on military bikes that will allow soldiers to move quickly during military action.
   
   He sits on the board of four other companies.
   
   In addition to his business interests, Clark is an author. In 2001, Clark published Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat. On Oct. 14, Clark's follow-up book, Winning Modern War, will hit shelves. Clark said he wrote the latest book "to provide a more comprehensive review of U.S. actions since 9/11 . . . and to critique and suggest a better strategy."
   
   He says he was opposed to invading Iraq without international support. He thinks al-Qaeda and North Korea are bigger threats.
   
   Money and timing
   
   Clark said he could have retired anywhere in the world but chose to return to Arkansas.
   
   "It's home," he said.
   ...
   Still, critics say it is too late for Clark to enter the race and even hard er for him to raise money. But some politics watchers don't rule Clark out.
   ...
   But Clark seems to have the backing of one powerful Democrat.
   ...
   Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Clark.
   ...
   And Clark has caught the eye of Little Rock Clintonites.
   ...
   Clark is smart, has proven leadership experience and that he certainly understands foreign policy and national security.

3. 3. Boston.com / News / Nation / Military record provides fodder for supporters, and critics

   www.boston.com/news/nation/art - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/17/2003   Last Visited: 9/17/2003

   Beyond that, Clark has spent much of the last year being coy -- about when he would announce, whether he would announce, and, for months, whether he was even a Democrat.
   
   To organizers of the Internet-based movement to draft Clark into the race, that didn't matter much. They have culled his many media interviews to compile a list of liberal-to-moderate political positions: he supports affirmative action and abortion rights, and says he disapproved of the Bush administration's tax cuts. But above all, they have touted Clark's military record, from his first-in-his-class finish at West Point in 1966 to his tour as an infantryman and unit commander in Vietnam, to his rise to the helm of NATO from July 1997 to April 2000.
   
   Clark's opponents may focus on that NATO tenure as well -- particularly his exit from the Pentagon, when he received orders to leave his term four months early to make way for a replacement favored by the Pentagon brass. The order followed months of tension between Clark and senior officials at the Pentagon, some of whom bristled at what they considered his abrasive approach.
   ...
   Clark was born on Dec. 23, 1944, in Chicago, the son of Benjamin Kanne, a Russian-Jewish lawyer who died when Clark was 5. Clark's mother, Veneta, then moved back to her native Arkansas, and later married Vincent Clark, a former banker.