Bio: General Wesley K. Clark

General Wesley K. Clark (search) spent 34 years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of 4-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander. Now the chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm, Clark serves on the boards of several private corporations and non-profit organizations. He is also an author and regular commentator on politics, diplomacy and public affairs.

Clark graduated first in his class in 1966 from the United States Military Academy at West Point (search). He also holds a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

From 1997 through May of 2000, Clark served as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander (search) and Commander-in-Chief of the United States European Command. In this position, he commanded Operation Allied Force, NATO’s first major combat action, which helped put an end to the Serbian-Albanian conflict in Kosovo. His experiences as NATO commander were the basis for his best-selling book, "Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat."

Prior to his NATO appointment, Clark served as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Southern Command in Panama, where he supervised U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1996 to 1997. From 1994 to 1996 he helped shape worldwide U.S. military strategic planning as Director for Strategic Plans and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Clark has received numerous military awards, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. In August 2000, General Clark was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor.  He has also received honorary knighthoods from the British and Dutch governments and was made a commander of the French Legion of Honor.

Clark was born on Dec. 23, 1944, and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, were he still lives with his wife Gertrude.  He has one son, Wesley, who lives in California.