Clark says bye to job at Stephens
Saturday, March 1, 2003
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who is considering a bid for the White House in 2004, is stepping down as managing director of merchant banking for the Stephens Group Inc.
Clark said he gave his resignation, effective Friday, so he could prepare for possible war in Iraq. A military analyst for CNN, Clark said he expects the network will dispatch him to Kuwait. "When the war starts, I’ll probably be sent out there," Clark said Friday. "It’s just very busy right now and I felt like the time was right."
The former NATO commander said he told the com- pany of his plans a month ago and said it had nothing to do with a possible presidential bid.
The 58-year-old Little Rock resident has said he is thinking about running in 2004, but he said he doesn’t have a timeline for the decision. If he runs, Clark has said, it would likely be as a Democrat. "I am not a candidate," Clark said. "I’m not going to speculate on that stuff."
Clark said he will soon open his own business services firm in Little Rock. He joined Stephens in July 2000.
Author of the best seller Waging Modern War, Clark said in an interview last week that he believes war with Iraq is imminent.
He has also been sharply critical of the Bush administration on foreign policy. "There is a perception of the U.S. going it alone that is deeply unsettling," Clark said in an interview Monday.
A former Rhodes scholar and Vietnam War veteran, Clark led NATO’s 11-week bombing campaign in Kosovo. He currently also serves on the corporate board of Acxiom Corp. in Little Rock.
Frank Thomas, a spokesman for Stephens, described Clark’s departure as amicable. "He had been active in the aerospace and defense sectors for us," Thomas said. "We wish him well and we hope to work with him again in the future."
