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Perseus Tyrone Snuggles
The Younger Years
Perseus Tyrone “P. T.” Snuggles was born on July 4, 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland. The third child to Elroy Jacobs Snuggles and Irene Mathers, P.T. was always creative and flexible. As a child he was not stranger to positions of leadership. At the age of ten P.T. co-coordinated his youth liturgical dance team to regional, then national success. On the subjects of art and community Snuggles has this to say:
“Art creates a space for the community to come together and feel good, relating on common grounds. Then they bring that energy back to individual spaces and refresh their environment.”
Being born into a military family came with challenges that Snuggles consistently turned into opportunities. As he moved from state to state, he became involved in various arts and community organizations. He found this to be the fastest way to get to know people, learn their concerns and connect upon common grounds. It is through being an observer, and his own civic action, that his passion for change began to stir. Accolades and awards seemingly came without effort due to the firm commitments and pride of his father’s military background.
Military Years
Before graduating from Edmund Patterson High School in Baltimore, Perseus Tyrone Snuggles faced the most difficult event of his life: losing his father. In 1988, Elroy Jacob Snuggles, a long-time sufferer of high blood pressure and diabetes, died of a heart attack, leaving his family devastated. P.T. grew up quickly to fill the shoes of his father. He entered the military as an immediate means of financial support for his family, but more so to honor the legacy of his father.
While in the military Snuggles advanced quickly, becoming the leader of his platoon. As Sergeant, he coordinated military drill and stomp competitions, winning national recognition. In 1991, he was called to duty in the Gulf War. Snuggles was twenty- one, and proud to serve his country.
Throughout his tour in Operation Desert Storm, he talked to civilians in the region and saw similarities between the every-day person in the Middle East, and those he met back home in the U.S. He grew to understand that poor people all over the world faced very similar challenges. Through conversation and observation, he also discovered that the only people that truly knew and understood his struggles were other poor struggling people.
During his ninth month of service in the Gulf region, Snuggles suffered a horrendous accident. In the blink of an eye, his right arm was severed from his body when shrapnel from a near-by truck collided with his vehicle. The attack came from nowhere; and the loss was temporarily devastating for young Snuggles. But, like so many other set backs in his life, Snuggles took the loss of his arm with optimism, vowing to continue all the activities he had invested in prior to his accident.
Political Career
In the fall of 1996, Snuggles ran for councilman of Woonsocket, Rhode Island and won. For four years, Snuggles served as part-time councilman and full-time military recruiter for the U.S. military. During his term as councilman, the fiery civil servant secured free bus travel for all underserved students, held community council meetings, and organized area gang members to voluntarily supervise area playgrounds to ensure the safety of his youngest citizens.
Despite losing his arm, Snuggles was not receiving the therapy and benefits that were promised by the U.S. armed forces after he returned in 1991. He continued to work as a military recruiter, but organized a group of Desert Storm veterans to fight for their delinquent benefits and services. He named the group, A.R.M.S. (Actively Reigniting Men’s Spirit). The group still has a lawsuit pending.
Snuggles lost his battle for re-election in 2000, and left politics altogether after September 11, 2001. Snuggles was disheartened with way the national upset was being handled. What were happening to American civil liberties? Why were no answers given when tough questions were asked? And why were the American people being held captive by fear instead of being proactive and communicative? He knew change was necessary, but did not know how to go about the daunting task of waking up America.
In summer of 2007, after finishing a day of recruiting at Central High School in Providence, RI, Snuggles decided to leave his days of military service behind him. With so many internal questions and conflicts brewing within, he could no longer promote the military whole-heartedly. It was a difficult decision considering his father’s tremendous influence on his career path, but he made the choice and never looked back. Days later, his nephew Donny came to him with an idea: “Let’s run for President!”
The rest is history.
It took Snuggles a full-year to finalize his commitment to run, making his official announcement on Friday, July 11, 2008 at Providence’s South Side Recreation Center after serious deliberation. With the help of his nephew Donny, Sgt. P.T. Snuggles has set out for the Presidential seat of the United States of America.
