Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark locked horns with “Hardball” host Chris Matthews last night as the Democratic presidential contender fiercely denied charges that he was fired from his military post under the Clinton administration.

The dispute erupted after Matthews, in an interview broadcast live on national television from the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), questioned Clark’s vaunted military record.

Clark, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, served for three years as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Supreme Allied Commander, leading the coalition’s aerial campaign against Serbia in the spring of 1999.

But Matthews presented allegations levelled by retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf that Clark “was fired because of character and integrity” in 2000.

Clark countered that he was neither “fired” nor “relieved” of his duties, but that he was “asked to retire three months early” by then-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Henry “Hugh” Shelton.

The normally unflappable Clark grew uncharacteristically emotional as he explained Shelton’s “behind-the-back power play.”

Clark recounted that he was dining with the president of Lithuania when he was interrupted by a phone call from Shelton, who asked Clark to step down from his post.

Within an hour of the phone call, Clark said that Shelton had leaked news of Clark’s ouster to reporter Bradley Graham of the Washington Post. After the leak, Clark said, then-President Bill Clinton and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen could not have salvaged Clark’s job without sparking an embarrassing public flap with Shelton.

“Bill Clinton told me himself that he had nothing to do with this, and I believe him,” Clark said.

Clinton’s shadow loomed large over Clark’s visit to Harvard, which also included a brief question-and-answer session in Kirkland House’s Junior Common Room.

Eli S. Rosenbaum ’05, a co-cordinator of Harvard College for Clark, introduced the candidate at the Kirkland event by comparing his biography to Clinton’s.

Rosenbaum drew laughter and applause from the Kirkland audience when he described Clark as a “charismatic Rhodes Scholar from Little Rock, Ark.,” a description that could also have applied to Clinton.

Matthews, noting that Clark’s aides included many veterans of the Clinton administration, asked, “Is that a signal that you’re the Clinton favorite?”

The candidate dodged the question and added that Clinton has played a limited role in the Clark campaign as an informal advisor. “He warned me to stay away from Chris Matthews,” Clark quipped.

Matthews, not to be outdone, responded by citing speculation that the former president and his wife would be inclined to support the weakest Democratic candidate. He mused that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., would have a much stronger chance of capturing the White House in 2008 if President George W. Bush won reelection in 2004.