Edwin N. Clark

Who was Edwin N. Clark?

Edwin Norman Clark was born in Parkersburg, Iowa in 1902. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1922 but resigned his commission in September of the same year. He immediately entered Harvard Law School and upon graduation practiced law in New York.

During the period 1940 to 1945 Clark served two tours of active duty in the Army with preceding and intervening private consulting work related to military supply and logistics. Clark was involved in supply and ordnance matters during the North African campaign and served as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Deputy G-4 at SHAEF.

After the war, Clark returned to private consulting work but continued to serve Eisenhower in several important ways. In the late 1940s, in conjunction with a small group of liberal Republicans, including Russell Davenport and Senator James Duff, Clark worked for the presidential candidacy of Dwight Eisenhower. As part of this planning group, Clark shuttled back and forth between the U.S. and Europe to ensure the secrecy of discussions with Eisenhower. The material documents Eisenhower’s early interest in the presidency and a 1951 meeting between Taft and Eisenhower.