#81: Mayor Adrian Perkins — On Serving the Community and a Mindset for Success
It was a lot of fun to sit down for this interview with my West Point classmate, Adrian Perkins. Adrian now serves as the Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana.
On this episode, we explore:
what life was like for him growing up in Shreveport,
the powerful leadership lessons he learned from his mom,
how he struggled the first time he went through the US Army’s Ranger School,
life at Harvard Law, and
we even talk about his run for Senate and how he deals with the criticisms that come with political office.
Adrian Perkins is the grandson of a Bossier Parish sharecropper, and the youngest of three boys born to Johnny Oliver and Archie Perkins. He was raised in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Shreveport. He attended Arthur Circle, Youree Drive Middle School, and Captain Shreve High School where he was a member of the student council and the varsity football, basketball and track and field teams. Perkins was all-state in track and field in high school.
Inspired to join the United States Army following the September 11 attacks, Perkins sought and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy, a United States service academy located in West Point, New York. While at West Point, Perkins was elected class president, the first African American cadet to graduate to serve as class president in the 215-year history of the institution. Perkins was selected to be a Tillman Scholar by the Pat Tillman Foundation. He attended Harvard Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor and served as president of the student government.
Upon graduation from West Point, Perkins was commissioned as a field artillery officer and posted at Fort Stewart, Georgia. During his career, Perkins was also posted at Fort Sill, Fort Benning, and Fort Campbell and served deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Perkins served eight years in the Army, completing Ranger training and achieved the rank of captain and served as a company commander. Adrian Perkins is a Bronze Star recipient.
On April 26, 2018, Perkins announced his candidacy for Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana.
On November 6, 2018, Perkins finished first with 17,466 votes and 28.86% in the blanket primary, but did not garner the required 50 percent plus one vote to win outright.
On December 8, 2018, Perkins handily defeated incumbent Ollie Tyler in the runoff to become the 58th mayor of Shreveport.
