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Historical reasons to help decide if General Wesley Clark should or should not be president.
Washington times | 10/29/03 | bornINravenswood

Posted on 10/30/2003 7:14:56 AM PST by bornINravenswood

If history serves as a means of avoiding past mistakes, these facts should be considered regarding why General Wesley Clark should or should not be president based on the history of past presidents who were generals, their party affiliation and notable deeds or misdeeds.

George Washington was general of the American armies because he was chosen by the Continental congress. He was helped, with the assistance of French troops and warships, to secure our national independence from the British crown. He did not have the ability to destroy Lord Cornwallis but he was able to run him out of supplies and cause him to retreat to Yorktown where he had to wait for more supplies coming by ship off the coast from Canada. The French were able to blockade the British supply ships while the Marquis De Lafayette and General Washington caused Cornwallis' surrender. Cornwallis did not even attend his own surrender. George Washington was unique as the father of our country. He was also a member of the Federalist party. The Barbary Pirates were the terrorists of their day, situated within the city states of north Africa. They are now today's Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, etc. but in those days controlled by the Ottoman empire (today's Turkey). As president, Washington tried diplomatic means to deal with them, and it failed. We paid tribute to these Islamic states until Thomas Jefferson decided that war was the right choice.

Andrew Jackson was a general who won the battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812. He was also mostly responsible for Indian migration to the west of the Mississippi river known as the "trail of tears". Many Cherokee tried to save their land by farming and appealed to the Supreme court to no avail. They were no longer looked on as a savage yet honorable breed but a wandering problem. Jackson was the leader of Jacksonian democracy. The donkey is the democratic mascot is because Jackson's comtemporaries were calling him a 'Jackass'. Jackson also appointed his friend Roger B Taney to the Supreme Court. Taney is famous as the Chief Justice who dis-allowed Dred Scott to sue for his freedom in a federal court because he deemed slaves and their decendents to not be United states citizens. Although earlier in history slaves were considered to be three fifths of a free man, a scheme that allowed more southern representation in the house.

Zachary Taylor, a Whig, was a general from the Mexican war well known as "Old Rough and Ready". He was president only two stormy years trying to appease the north and the south before he suddenly fell ill and died. He was also a Mississippi plantation owner with slaves.

Franklin Pierce, a Jacksonian democrat, was a brigadier general during the Mexican war. The son of a New Hampshire govenor, he defeated General Winfield Scott, a Whig to the presidency. Pierce was opposed to anti-slavery and was the only northerner who defended the southern states in this respect. After his first term, Franklin Pierce passed into obscurity.

Ulysses S Grant, a republican, famous as the northern general to cause General Robert E Lee to surrender the confederacy. Unfortunately Grant had a weak administration. He almost allowed a couple of shifty speculators to corner the gold market until he caught their scheme.

Rutherford B Hayes, a republican, rose to the rank of brevet major general during the civil war. Brevet an honorary position with the same pay but no real authority. Hayes won his presidency dubiously by one electoral vote and disputed returns from mostly southern states. Among the states was Florida.

James Garfield, a republican, was major general of volunteers but he resigned in 1863, having been elected to the House of Representatives. He was assassinated in July of his first year as president by a disgruntled office seeker.

Benjamin Harrison, a republican. President Lincoln made him a brigadier general during the Civil war. Harrison influenced a strong foreign policy. He was defeated for his second term by Grover Cleveland.

Dwight D Eisenhower, a republican. Most notably, Eisenhower was made Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion of Europe in 1944. As president, he sought to resist communist aggression.

Summary: Federalist: 1, Democratic-Republican: 0, Whig: 1, Jacksonian Democrat: 2, Republican: 5, Democrat: 0 (Note: The democratic-republican party split into Jacksonian democrat and Whig parties. There were seven consecutive terms from Lincoln to Aurthur were six Republican and one Union (Andrew Johnson). The current democratic party claims ties with the democratic-republican and Jacksonian democratic parties after a secession, civil war and 24 years. Grover Cleveland was the first to be a democrat after the civil war.)

Wesley Kanne-Nemerovsky-Clark was born in 1944 to Benjamin Jacob Kanne and Veneta Updegraff. Wesley's father, Benjamin, was an Orthodox Jewish attorney and Chicago politician residing in the 4th ward. Benjamin died when Wesley was five. Benjamin's father was a russian jew named Jacob Nemerovsky who fled russia at the end of the 19th century and immigrated to the United States as Jacob Kanne on a possibly fraudulent passport. After Benjamin's death, Veneta and Wesley returned to Veneta's native Arkansas and remarried Victor Clark. Wesley Kanne-Nemerovsky-Clark graduated first in his class at west pont, 1966 and a Rhodes scholar.


TOPICS: Campaign News
KEYWORDS: clark; democrat; general; historical; history; kanne; nemerovsky
Based on history, General Wesley Clark should not be a democrat. I doubt he is another Andrew Jackson but then he could be another Franklin Pierce. It would be wrong to fault him for background but it is easy to fault him for not making sure that potential voters know it. In my opinion, his NATO history shows him to stubbornly push toward whatever agenda he may have.
1 posted on 10/30/2003 7:14:58 AM PST by bornINravenswood
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To: bornINravenswood
I just don't know what this guy really believes. He obviously is very intelligent, but he is a huge waffler, so for all we know he is really a hardline conservative, or a libertarian, or a hardline liberal. I just can't get a read on him to save my life. Who is he really?
2 posted on 10/31/2003 8:22:06 AM PST by jimjones316
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To: jimjones316
One of the only democrat/generals in history running for president raises a red flag. No pun intended.
5 posted on 11/03/2003 5:07:14 PM PST by bornINravenswood
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