“And I’m here to announce that I intend to seek the presidency of the United States of America.”
Kyle Kellams: Randy Dixon, welcome back to the Carver Center for Public Radio. We’re going to go through some Pryor Center archives. Who’d we just hear?
Randy Dixon: Well, that was retired Gen. Wesley Clark. And we’re going to talk about a presidential run, Arkansas related. And it actually happened in the 21st century. A lot of what we talk about sort of predates this. It's the early 2000s,
Kellams: But we’ve got some years in the 21st century now. We’re a quarter of the way, more than a quarter of the way through.
Dixon: I’m old. So anyway, Arkansan and retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark ran for president in 2004. So let’s just go ahead and get into this. And here’s KATV’s live coverage from Sept. 17, 2003.
“I’m Scott Inman, welcome to our live coverage today of retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s announcement about his political future. He is expected to announce today that he is entering the Democratic race for president. We have a view now for you from Chopper 7 that shows that supporters and members of the media have gathered outside Pennick Boys and Girls Club in Little Rock for that announcement.
“If things go as planned today, this will mark the third time in our city’s history that a candidate for president has declared here. Another general, some people may remember Douglas MacArthur did it a half century ago, and Bill Clinton just over a decade ago. This will also end months of speculation concerning Wesley Clark. He has been interviewed numerous times about this decision, but has refused up until this point to reveal what his plans were.
“Clark, of course, grew up in Little Rock and still has a home and business office here. He is a 1962 graduate of Hall High School. In 1966, he graduated from West Point first in his class. High school friends use words such as brilliant and a born leader when describing the Rhodes Scholar. Channel 7’s Michelle Rupp sat down with a longtime friend of Clark’s, and she has more on this four-star general turned presidential hopeful.”
“I think Wesley could have become an Olympic swimmer. He was that good, one of the best in the country.”
“Phil McMath has known Clark since the 10th grade. McMath says Clark never ran for student council in school. He was more the athletic and academic type. He was voted most intellectual in the class.
“McMath and Clark served in Vietnam in the late ’60s. Clark was reportedly shot by a sniper and later was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. McMath believes running for president is a natural next step for this four-star general.”
“He’s retired from the military, and he’s not the kind of guy just to go enjoy a quiet retirement. He’s motivated. He’s going to do something else. He’s going to find another way to serve his country.”
“McMath believes Clark is uniquely equipped to be the next commander in chief.”
“After you’ve been a four-star general, what can you do except be president?”
Kellams: All right, so that’s what we would call a background sort of story.
Dixon: Yeah, we’d call it a backgrounder, and we would do those whenever there was a major story about a well-known person. It could be after a big political event or, in some cases, maybe even a criminal arraignment or something. But you just kind of give us the life story.
One thing I wanted to point out, you noticed that Scott Inman mentioned that there were three presidential announcements, mentioned Clark, MacArthur and Clinton. And the first thing that popped into my mind was, well, what about Mike Huckabee? And then I remembered, yeah, he made his announcement in Hope.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: And Scott was referring specifically to Little Rock. And so anyone who was thinking, gosh, he messed up, no he didn’t. Let’s go ahead and get KATV’s coverage of the actual announcement. And this is KATV’s Beth Hunt.
“It is the moment so many Clark supporters have been waiting for.”
“Thank you so much.”
“The 58-year-old four-star general from Little Rock formally launches his presidential campaign.”
“We’re talking about a new journey, a journey I couldn’t begin without all of you…”
“Surrounded by thousands of fans from as far away as Texas and Chicago, Clark promises to take his campaign to the American people. And talk straight about his vision for the country’s economy.
“And in this campaign, we’ll lay out a plan to restore the millions of jobs that have been lost and restore our economic opportunities again.”
“Supporters and fellow Democrats say it is a little late, but not too late.”
“He is the right person at the right time for America.”
“Many believe this political novice is the only person who can go head to head with President Bush. Supporters say this country is definitely ready for another candidate from Arkansas.”
“We have another friend running for president. Arkansas, again, presents a favorite son to the nation and to the world. And I think America and the world are going to like him.”
Dixon: And by the way, those two interviews you heard, that was Sen. David Pryor speaking, and then the interview was with Skip Rutherford, a longtime friend and collaborator with the Clintons. So he worked with a lot of the Clinton Gore campaign people and even had hundreds of volunteers that had supported Clinton in ‘92 and ‘96.
Clark chose not to run in the Iowa caucus and saved his first fight for New Hampshire. That didn’t stop CNN from covering Clark the night of the Iowa political contest:
“Are you enjoying running?”
“It’s the best experience I ever had in my life. It is absolutely a thrill. It is unbelievable to go out and say what you really believe, to talk about all the things that are important to Americans, to offer a promise of the way to bring this country forward, to give hope, to look in people’s eyes and connect with them. It is a thrill. It’s the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me in my life, other than having a family and a child and grandchild.”
“You couldn’t say what you believed when you were in the Army?”
“Well, you were only dealing with a certain small range of issues. And in fact, there were a lot of times when I had to watch what I said. You may know about some of those discussions on Kosovo.”
“True. General Clark was a frequent guest on this show.”
“Do you have a question, Wolf Blitzer?”
“I certainly do. Thanks very much, Larry. General Clark, the widespread assumption was that if Kerry did not do well here, it would be between you and Howard Dean in New Hampshire. But with Kerry doing very well here, in fact winning the Iowa caucuses, he’s presumably going to get a bounce. This could turn out to be very bad news for you in New Hampshire.”
“Well, I haven’t looked at those kinds of issues. What I’m doing, Wolf, is going out and working with the people in New Hampshire. I was down in South Carolina today. We had a very good day in South Carolina. We’ve got a very strong campaign all the way across the nation. We're strong in South Carolina and Tennessee, in Oklahoma and Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia. We're strong all the way across this country. And I'm looking forward to the full chance to meet all the voters all over the country as we move through these primary elections.”
Kellams: All right, so he does skip the caucus, but New Hampshire is the first primary. We’re not that far removed at this point from an Arkansan being in major primaries.
Dixon: Well, when Clinton ran, I was executive producer, assistant news director, and covered all of Clinton’s campaign. It was a major ordeal for a news operation. It commanded money and manpower, and we were cranking up for that. We were ready for the long haul. We went to New Hampshire, and here’s Kate Sullivan.
“It wasn’t first and it wasn’t second, but it sure felt like a victory at Clark campaign headquarters. There’s no doubt that Clark is still in this race and his supporters know it.
“His timing could not have been more perfect. Just minutes after he surged to third position, General Wesley Clark and his wife Gert arrived to screaming supporters. After battling sagging poll results, indicating Clark would finish fourth. This final push in the eleventh hour clearly made a difference.”
“Four months later, we came into New Hampshire as one of the elite eight. Tonight we leave New Hampshire as one of the final four.”
And I'll tell you what. For a woman who told me she hoped that her husband never ran for president, Gert Clark looked like she was having the time of her life tonight. The Clark's actually boarded a plane about an hour ago, and they're on their way to South Carolina. It all begins again tomorrow, Krista?”
“Okay, now, you've been following Clark for the last few days. Do you have a sense of his strategy? And where does he go from here?”
“Well, what we can tell you is that Clark has been campaigning hard in Oklahoma. In fact, polls there show him in first place. But the real jewel, the next jewel of this race could be Missouri with 88 delegates. And as you know, Dick Gephardt just recently dropped out of the race. So this race is about to get a whole lot more interesting, Krista.”
“Yes, it definitely will. Thank you very much, Kate.”
Dixon: That sounded a whole lot like Bill Clinton’s comeback kid.
Kellams: Also in the northeast, New Hampshire.
Dixon: So Clark was really banking on the South. He knows, or at least the polls are saying he's going to do really well in Oklahoma. However, that night wasn’t quite as sweet a win as they had hoped for because he barely beat John Edwards in the race. Here’s KATV’s Scott Inman.
“Wesley Clark is getting ready to speak to supporters right now in Oklahoma City. He has anticipated, of course, to talk about his big win tonight in Oklahoma. He’s in a statistical tie with John Edwards in the Oklahoma Democratic primary tonight, as he makes his way toward the podium. But he does have about a 1300 vote lead, according to our latest numbers with 99% of precincts reporting in Oklahoma, Wesley Clark had 89,861 votes to John Edwards’ 88,577. It's been a pretty good night for Wesley Clark, even though it's been overshadowed somewhat by frontrunner John Kerry.
“He won four states tonight. Kerry did finish second in Arizona and in North Dakota tonight. But in Oklahoma, where he hung his hopes tonight he apparently will come out the winner, which of course ensures that he will continue campaigning into the next coming weeks.”
“The results are in. We have won. Oklahoma is OK by me. As an old soldier from Arkansas, I just couldn't be prouder of your support in this first election that I've ever won. Thank you.”
Kellams: So who did win? Tennessee and Virginia?
Dixon: That was John Kerry.
Kellams: The eventual nominee.
Dixon: Right. And then second, of course, was John Edwards, who had done very well in the previous contests. And disappointingly, the Clark campaign came in third again. So there was a tough decision to be made that was made on February 11th, 2004, when Clark left the race.
“Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight, I'm Scott Inman.”
“And I'm Kate Sullivan. A five month long presidential campaign comes to an end today as Arkansan Wesley Clark pulls out of the race for the white House. The retired general decided to call it quits after his poor showing yesterday in two southern primaries. Channel Seven's Cristina Munoz was at Clark's speech today and she joins us live with more, Cristina?”
“Well, Kate, although it's a sad day for Clark supporters, Wesley Clark energized the crowd by telling them that his presidential campaign may be over, but says his cause will never die.
“After thanking his family, friends and loyal supporters, Wesley Clark said he would do whatever it takes to bring the Democratic Party together and continue his attempt to change the leadership of the United States. He then praised his former rivals.”
“I want to applaud John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean for running good campaigns. They're good men, they're good Democrats, and they are real patriots. And our country is well served by John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean, and I applaud them.”
“After his speech, we asked the retired general if he was sad to see the race for the white House come to an end.”
“I'm not sad about it. I'm really happy. You know, I mean, most people don't ever get a chance to do this. It's been fabulous. And for a guy who's never been in politics to get invited to come in and play in the World Series and hit a triple, I'm really happy about it.”
“Now, Clarke hinted toward a future in politics, but no one knows exactly where his aspirations will take him, and rumors are also spreading about a possible vice presidential spot. And Clarke aides say if he's asked, he will probably consider that. Kate.”
“And we will certainly be watching. Thank you, Cristina, for your coverage of Clarke in both Oklahoma and in Tennessee. Cristina Munoz, live tonight. Thank you.”
Dixon: Some of the pundits have said one of Clarke's problems was that he hadn't learned how to speak in soundbites, that, you know, he was so thoughtful and wanted to answer a question so completely, you couldn't get that 45 seconds out of him, which seems kind of silly,
Kellams: He didn't come from the world of politics.
Dixon: He did not.
Kellams: You know, and Edwards had been in the Senate, Uh, everyone who is running.
Dixon: Well, everyone did. Yeah. So I think it's admirable.
Kellams: Yeah. Of all the things to be, to be knocked about the fact that you were too thoughtful.
Dixon: Yeah. You're too smart to dumb it down. Well, this was obviously a very short period of Wesley Clark's life, so how did he get to this point? Well, you're going to have to listen next week in part two.
But here's just a little hint at what we're going to talk about. I guess we'll talk about before and after what this program was today. And one of the things that he has done, and I'm sure you've seen him on all the news shows over the years, but a military analyst. And he's still doing it. This is a clip recently from an interview on News Nation:
“First of all, the Ukrainians are not going to surrender under any circumstances. They're going to fight to the bitter end. They're not giving up their territory. They know that the existence of their culture, their history, their language, their country is at stake. No compromise for Ukraine on this. But if we don't hold together across NATO, it's going to make it much more difficult for Europe to remain stable. And an unstable Europe is really bad for the United States economically, but also diplomatically and security wise. There's no reason to give up on NATO. And remember that in terms of Ukraine, actually, the Europeans have given more to Ukraine than the United States has.”
Kellams: All right. So we're going to do kind of a backgrounder next week. We told you what he was doing in the early 2000s. We're going to look at it more at his full life next week. Randy Dixon, good stuff.
Dixon: Thank you. I'll see you next week.
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