The member of a Mississippi political family dynasty, Pete Johnson has come full circle in his life today. As federal co-chair of the nascent Delta Regional Authority, a federal-state partnership based in Clarksdale, he is putting his years of experience as a public servant to its greatest test: helping end poverty in one of the nation’s most economically and culturally depressed areas.

The very idea of even attempting such a monumental task would strike some as foolish hubris or others as wasteful, government largesse. For Pete Johnson, however, the possibility of helping his fellow man—of giving back—was as natural an act as breathing.

When President George W. Bush nominated Johnson to head up the newly-formed Delta Regional Authority back in 2001, the Yiddish word “chutzpah” may not have been on his mind—-but it very well may be now. Johnson has the moxie that ancient word implies and he believes in his heart of hearts that the battle against poverty can be won.

“We must change the way we have attempted to tackle the issue of poverty,” Johnson says from the Delta Regional Authority office in Clarksdale. “We—this agency and this country—must strive to be innovative and to change the ways we think about and act toward poverty. This must be done so that when we invest funds in the region they are invested where opportunities exist and are sustainable, instead of just throwing money out and hoping for the best.”

“This is not about photo-ops and ribbon-cuttings,” Johnson continues. “We must ensure that dollars reach those it is intended to reach. Otherwise, no goals will be reached and no progress will be made in those parts of the country that need it most. Our goals at the Delta Regional Authority are to challenge the status quo, challenge the former assumptions some policy leaders accept as gospel, and to make a noticeable, quantifiable difference in the lives of our citizens and their communities.”

With the fervor—and conviction—of a minister, Johnson has tirelessly worked with his staff to get the Delta Regional Authority on solid and respectable footing. This he has done, with the help of countless others in Washington, DC and around the region, in two short years. From the early days in 2001 when, according to Johnson, “we ran the DRA on cell phones” to today, the Delta Regional Authority has opened the eyes of many of the early nay sayers, both conservative and liberal. Johnson was determined not to let the Delta Regional Authority be “just another government alphabet agency”. It has not been. This doesn’t surprise those who know Pete Johnson.

“I’ve known Pete for most of his life, about as long as I can remember,” says former Mississippi governor and respected statesman, William Winter. “I’ve been associated with the Johnson family, and Pete in particular, for years. I know how devoted he is to the state of Mississippi and of his genuine love for our state and he has contributed much to its improvement. I also know how knowledgeable he is about the needs of this region and the strong, personal feeling he has for our citizens, especially those who have not had access to opportunities. In my opinion, this is one of the special qualities that make him such a valuable Federal Chairman of the DRA. He has an understanding of the Mississippi Delta and the whole lower Mississippi valley. Given time and resources, Pete Johnson will make a significant difference in this region of the country,” Winter concludes.

Johnson traces his family’s political roots back to 1918, when his grandfather became a U.S. congressman and later served as a judge and governor. “I learned the merits of public service early on,” Johnson recalls. “Of course, we were a working family, not a wealthy one.” A Forrest County native, the 54-year old Johnson said he spent many a day on the campaign trail of his uncle, Paul B. Johnson, Jr., who, of course, later became governor.

“My father, Pat Johnson, returned to south Mississippi from 269 days of direct combat with the enemy in World War II as part of a special combat team,” Johnson says, “an extraordinary story in and of itself which I only found about out after his death. He never discussed it. Anyway,” he continues, “my dad opened a truck stop near Hattiesburg, and that’s where I first began to hear the folks talk politics and issues.”
While the family was indeed a political one, Johnson says he was actually discouraged from following suit.

“It was rough and distasteful, even then,” Johnson chuckles. “My family encouraged me to get an education, first and foremost, and then pursue a profession. I did just that, working my way through college with an assortment of odd jobs, including running a tuxedo rental business at Ole Miss! I sold them to fellow students, I’d do the measuring, the ordering, the whole nine yards. My dad’s business had failed by that time and I had to work to pay for my education.”
Johnson had earlier graduated from Murrah High School in Jackson in 1966, his family having moved. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Ole Miss in 1971, also graduating from the LSU School of Banking of the South. He obtained his law degree from the former Jackson School of Law (now the Mississippi College Law School) and was admitted to practice law in 1974. While obtaining his education and degrees, Johnson held a number of positions with various financial institutions.

Coming of age in turbulent times in Mississippi, Johnson recalls that he was impacted tremendously by what he saw, heard and lived through.

“My uncle was governor from 1964 to 1968, the most turbulent times for our state since the civil war, and I saw him struggling to keep the state he loved together,” Johnson says. “He was pulled from both ends by people with very strong feelings on many issues. I saw the hatred, division and ill feeling among so many good people and how it set this state back. But, my uncle did a tremendous job and I learned so much about race relations and how important it was for all citizens to be treated fairly. I carry those lessons with me today at all times,” Johnson says.

After receiving his law degree, Johnson joined the Bank of Clarksdale as Senior Vice-President and Trust Officer. Over time, Johnson was recognized as a top leader in the Mississippi banking industry. He served as the President of the Young Banker Section of the Mississippi Bankers Association and also formed a financial planning firm in Clarksdale after leaving the banking profession. Johnson was also appointed by Governor Bill Allain as chairman of the Mississippi Marketing Council.

“I loved Clarksdale when I first came here, and, of course, still do,” Johnson says. He recalled his very first trip to the Delta was in 1955 when he was seven years old. “It was for a political campaign, of course,” he laughs. “Later, I would hunt frequently in the Delta. I truly enjoyed the people here and the way of life that is unique to this part of the country. I even married a Delta girl,” he chuckles, referring to his wife, the former Margaret Birdsong.

In 1986, Johnson decided to make another bid for Congress, this time losing in a heartbreaking defeat after initially being declared the winner in the race. “Ballots were found two days after the election and I had lost to Mike Espy by 80 votes,” Johnson says. “It was very, very disappointing. I had no ill feelings toward Mike, though; he was, and is, a great guy. The circumstances, though, were quite tough to swallow.”

In 1987, Johnson once again threw his hat in the political ring, this time for State Auditor. He won in a landslide and achieved unprecedented success in that position. “It was an extremely demanding job, a 24-hour affair,” he recalls. “But, we got a lot done and I was proud to be a part of that.”

Johnson led a strong charge for the Governor’s mansion in 1991 when he decided to run for that office, but an illness took him out of the race in the home stretch and Johnson narrowly lost the Republican nomination to Kirk Fordice. It was while hospitalized with a kidney stone that Johnson discovered he had a much more serious problem: Hepatitis C. The kidney stone had weakened his immune system, opening the door to the hepatitis. “There were many days I didn’t think I could get out of bed but I was determined to press on to the end,” he said.

“I contracted Hepatitis C while working as an ambulance driver in Hattiesburg, during the summers of my college years,” Johnson says. “So, the knowledge of that, which would later prove to have life-or-death consequences and my loss in the primary, hit hard.”

Soon, though, Johnson was appointed by President George Bush in 1992 as Mississippi’s State Director of the Farmers’ Home Administration, where he coordinated one of the largest Farm and Rural Development Programs in the U.S. During this time he was put on a transplant list. He later opened his own law firm, Johnson, Bobo in Clarksdale.

In 1996, during a fateful Delta hunting trip on an island in the Mississippi River, he began to hemorrhage. It was the first brush with death for Pete Johnson and, unfortunately, not his last.
“I’ve recounted this story elsewhere,” Johnson says of his long ordeal to simply stay alive, “but, through God’s grace, my friends got me off that island and my life was saved through a long, arduous, almost impossible process.” Medical procedure after procedure took place in Cleveland, Jackson, and Dallas in an attempt to, essentially, keep Johnson alive. While teetering on the brink of death, Johnson received a life saving liver transplant in 1996.

“The human spirit is incredibly resilient,” Johnson says of those three and one-half months spent in a Dallas hospital, his very life hanging in the balance. “I was concerned more about my family than about myself, to be honest. You had to deal with things matter-of-factly and try to be positive at the same time.”

After being told the hepatitis had reoccurred, they said, in effect, go home to Clarksdale and wait for the inevitable end. After arriving in Clarksdale, Johnson learned of a new, combination drug treatment for his liver ailment from a Clarksdale physician. It was successful, and Pete Johnson is alive and well today because of it, having cheated death to ultimately have an opportunity to help some 10 million people improve their lives through the work at the Delta Regional Authority.

“I’m strong as a horse today thanks to medical miracles and the good Lord,” Johnson beams. “I hunt, fish, play golf and am very active. The hepatitis is gone and I feel great.”

Covering some 240 parishes and counties, the Delta Regional Authority last year adopted a Comprehensive Action Plan with five-year outcome targets as well as several medium and long-term goals. “We took a real beating our first year and a half in operation,” Johnson relates, “but we persevered and are still improving. I’m extremely proud of our staff here, their dedication and their loyalty, and their belief in our mission of providing economic relief to a region that so badly needs help.”

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the State Co-Chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, says that “Pete has been a strong leader of the DRA in its early days. He has worked tirelessly to earn the confidence of governors, members of Congress and other leaders. He’s a key player in what has been a tough but important start down the road to using federal dollars more wisely to revitalize the Delta economy.”

When asked how he relaxes, Johnson laughs and replies, “Relax? What is that?!” He says he does enjoy reading, mainly policy/philosophical books relating to his role with the Delta Regional Authority. “I often feel like a professor in a library,” he says.

An active member of the Clarksdale community, Johnson has received numerous awards and accolades during his years of public service, including the Goodman, Cheney, Schwerner Award in 1987 for his steadfast commitment to equal rights. He is heavily involved with Habitat for Humanity, is a Rotarian and is an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Clarksdale. He and his wife have two daughters, Mary Margaret of Atlanta, Georgia and Anne Clark, of Denver, Colorado and a grandson named Pete.

As far as the future goes, Pete Johnson says he will continue to work to carry the Delta Regional Authority to new heights in fulfilling its duty to help others. Yet he is also philosophical about whatever may lie ahead.

“I’ve wrestled death to a draw on three separate occasions,” Johnson says. “Through those experiences I’ve learned that you take each day as it is given to you. I enjoy public service and will follow that road, no matter where it might lead.”

One thing’s for certain: Pete Johnson will have fought the good fight when he reaches the end of that road. And all of us will be much better for it. DBJ