NICK Perry admits that he always had a burning desire for public service.

His bio corroborates that — 30 unbroken years in the New York State Assembly, starting in 1992; working with colleague students to give political voice to the students’ union at Brooklyn College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and later studied for a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration; and before all that, working at Bustamante Industrial Trade Union where he underwent training as a labour organiser, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Pearnel Charles, Dwight Nelson, and Errol Anderson, all of whom advanced to national political service.

As America’s top diplomat to Jamaica, N Nickolas Perry’s story is now well known, after all, following the US Senate’s confirmation of his nomination on March 10, 2022, much was made of the fact that he is the first person born in Jamaica to serve as US ambassador here.

What is not widely known, though, is that Perry, a Kingston College old boy who grew up in Whitfield Town and Rose Town — two of the capital city’s more gritty communities — had long thought of returning to Jamaica to serve.

Perry made the revelation in an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer on June 28, 2024, his first sit down with a media house since the commencement of his tour of duty.

“I must admit that at the very beginning of my political interest I really dreamed of coming back to Jamaica and serving in office. But, as you know, Jamaica went through a period of social unrest and uncertainty and I had to make a decision,” he said.

“I was interested in leadership, wherever I was… so when I went to college, and I graduated from college, my dream of leadership, Jamaica was prominent in my mind, but during that period Jamaica had a real transformation from a peaceful politics. That was about the same time that I got out of college and I was ready to make a move,” he said.

But by then Perry and his wife Joyce had two young children — daughter Novalie and son Nickolas. “So I had to make a choice whether I was gonna come and expose them or stay in New York, and I decided that I would not put them at risk to pursue my political dreams and ambition. So I decided I’d get involved in the politics of the community that I live in and started running for office.”

Perry had left Jamaica in 1971 with the intention of getting into university via his enrolment in the US Army which opened the door to benefits under the GI Bill.

Also known as the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the Bill was signed into law by former President Franklin D Roosevelt to provide various benefits to World War II veterans.

Now, the GI Bill refers to any US Department of Veterans Affairs education benefit and helps active-duty service members, veterans, and their families pay for college, graduate school, and training programmes.

“So I volunteered for the Army… and after I was drafted and trained as a soldier, I was assigned to Korea,” Perry explained.

He served in Korea for a year, after which he returned to the US and enrolled at Brooklyn College.

“In college I became a troublemaker, as they would refer to it,” he said, letting off a soft chuckle.

“I led strikes and protests. That’s where my leadership ability and zeal really developed. I was able to get people to follow me, and that propelled me into more activism,” he said.

That activism saw Perry and some of his fellow students transforming the Caribbean Students’ Union into an organisation that tackled more of the serious issues affecting students.

“We turned it into a political movement and contested and ran candidates to participate in the student government, so it caused quite a stir at the college, but we did well enough to win some seats. So that’s where my real political instincts and ability got nurtured, and after I graduated I got into politics outside in the real world,” Perry told the Sunday Observer.

That first step into ‘real world’ politics was made in his East Flatbush neighbourhood in Brooklyn.

“It was during those activities that I had the opportunity to meet Assemblyman Chuck Schumer, who represented the neighbourhood that I lived in. He was running to fill a vacant congressional seat. I was part of a Jamaican/Caribbean active political operation we were putting together there. “I ultimately decided to support him and was involved in efforts to get folks to pull candidates out of the race to coalesce with Schumer, and we successfully got him the Caribbean support. He won that race handsomely, so that’s where I developed a lasting friendship with Chuck Schumer, who is now the Senate leader,” Perry revealed.

It wasn’t by coincidence, therefore, that Schumer was instrumental in Perry’s nomination as ambassador to Jamaica.

Perry had chalked up a successful career in US politics, including running on a ticket with former President Bill Clinton, each time winning his seat by impressive margins.

In November 2020 he was re-elected unopposed to his 15th consecutive two-year term in the New York State Assembly.

In his assemblyman role, Perry served as assistant speaker pro tempore, and sat on the Ways and Means, Rules, Codes, Labour, Transportation and Banks committees. He was also regional vice-chairman of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

“I had relationships right across the board — in the Senate and in the Assembly — and my relationship with Chuck Schumer had grown,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“I was very active in his race for the Senate, running against a very powerful opponent who had been undefeated for quite a number of terms,” Perry shared. That opponent was the then three-term Republican incumbent Al D’Amato.

But even as Perry established his credentials in American politics, there was a running joke among his colleagues that they would send him back to Jamaica, especially when his vote on some issues did not coincide with theirs.

Schumer, he said, would often make reference to the joke on the opening day of the Albany legislature.

“So when the opportunity did come, and he [Schumer] recommended my nomination [as ambassador] and he had convinced the president to accept his recommendation, he was very proud to make the announcement: ‘Just as I promised, I’m sending Councilman Perry back to Jamaica’,” the ambassador said, triggering loud laughter among the group witnessing the interview.

By then Perry had decided to close the curtains on his political career. And while he is proud of the service he gave to his constituents and, by extension the United States, for three decades, he admits that the demands on his personal time were taxing.

“I had to travel to Albany every year. It took a lot out of me, and my son… my son, as he grew up, I missed the opportunity of really nurturing, bonding with him. It was quite hard for me because I did not pay any attention to it,” Perry said, his voice cracking and tears flowing down his face.

After regaining his composure the diplomat, who lives by his high school motto: Fortis, Cadere, Cedere, Non Potest (The Brave May Fall But Never Yield), said, “That’s the one regret that I have, but I’m thankful that I got an opportunity to redeem myself. I was lucky enough to get to build a relationship with him.”

Now, with that wound healed, Perry is fully focussed on his role as Washington’s top envoy in Jamaica, his birth country that has enjoyed friendly relations with the US for decades.

He is proud, he says, that both countries uphold the tenets of respect for freedom, liberty, justice, and democracy.

That was one of the thoughts in his head as his flight taking him to his ambassadorial assignment touched down in Kingston.

“I find simply no difference, based on my upbringing in Jamaica and what we’re taught to believe in Jamaica, as compared to the United States — a complete copy, if not a clone, of the societies,” Perry argued.

“Jamaica and the United States share the same values all around, even in the official motto: ‘Out of many, one’ [in the case of the US]; ‘Out of many, one people’ [Jamaica],” he said.

“So it [coming to Jamaica as ambassador] wasn’t a big challenge for me because Jamaicans and Americans share… the importance and acceptance that for human beings, freedom, democracy, justice are really important and worth fighting for,” said the ambassador.

US Ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry in his official Army photo in 1972.

Nick Perry (right), with his wife Joyce by his side, being sworn in as assemblyman in Brooklyn, New York.

Nick Perry and his family in 1993 at the New York State House in Albany after he was sworn to his first term as assemblyman representing Brooklyn.

United States Ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry talks about his life in politics in the US in an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer on June 28, 2024.Photo: Joseph Wellington

US Ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry laughs as he reflects on a running joke among his political colleagues in New York during an interview with the Jamaica Observer on June 28, 2024. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)