Herman Cain

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American author, business executive, radio host, syndicated columnist, and Tea Party activist from Georgia. He was a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.

Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. Cain pursued graduate studies at Purdue University and graduated with a Master of Science in Computer Science in 1971, while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, his success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury Company to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he served from 1986 to 1996.

Cain was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch from 1989 to 1991. He was deputy chairman, from 1992 to 1994, and chairman, from 1995 to 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 1995, Cain was appointed by Newt Gingrich to the Kemp Commission, and was a senior economic adviser to the Bob Dole presidential campaign. Cain became the CEO of the National Restaurant Association, in which he served as president and CEO from 1996 to 1999. During the presidency of Bill Clinton, Cain publicly opposed the Clinton health care plan of 1993, about which he questioned the president at a town hall meeting. Cain has served as a member of the board of directors of several companies, including Aquila, Inc., Nabisco, Whirlpool, Reader's Digest, and AGCO.

Herman Cain presidential campaign, 2012

Herman Cain is an American businessman and radio host who began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States shortly after the 2010 midterm elections.

Although he was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate, Cain stopped short of a full-fledged candidacy before the beginning of 2011. Although he was characterized as "inexperienced", and a Washington outsider, as of October 19, 2011, polls showed him to be one of the front runners in the Republican primaries.

Cain spent a considerable amount of time campaigning throughout the early primary states (particularly Iowa and New Hampshire) for most of 2010.

Nearly two weeks after the beginning of the year, Cain filed his organization with the Federal Elections Commission as an exploratory committee, under the name Friends of Herman Cain.

Cain is a supporter of the Tea Party movement. He is in favor of the gold standard.

Cain ran as a Washington outsider and became a front-runner in the race in the fall of 2011. However, Cain's support plummeted after several women alleged that he had engaged in sexual harassment or, in one case, a 13-year extramarital affair. Cain and his wife unequivocally said the accusations were false, but Cain, citing the toll the allegations had taken on his family and his political support, suspended his campaign on December 3, 2011.

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Famous quotes by Herman Cain:

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
"Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within, it doesn't come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves."
"We're not coming into Virginia to be a one-note Johnny."
"Out-of-control spending by government requires a different kind of taxpayer group. AFP is that difference because we organize, educate and mobilize real grassroots citizens and help them make sure their elected officials are held accountable and understand free-market policies, ... We're hitting the ground running, with two grassroots training schools set for citizens in Charlottesville and Roanoke in the next week, and we'll have at least half a dozen grassroots schools completed by November 1. This new grassroots presence will lead to a stronger economy, which means new and better-paying jobs and more prosperity across Virginia."
"Most of the ancestors that I can trace were born here in the United States of America. And then it goes back to slavery. And I'm sure my ancestors go all the way back to Africa, but I feel more of an affinity for America than I do for Africa. I'm a black man in America."
"I am suspending my presidential campaign, because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I'm not a fighter."
"The thing that differs me from a lot of other people running for the President of the United States is that I focus on the problem first. Then I focus on what the solution is."
"It's time to get real, folks. Hope and change ain't working. Hope and change is not a solution. Hope and change is not a job."
"I don't have more money. I won't have more money than any of the candidates, even the Republican candidates. We know that already. But we are building this campaign team like I would build a business. And that is, we are building it so far with no debt."
"I've never sexually harassed anyone, and yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association."
"We as voters, have long hoped that we would get a businessman instead of a politician in order to help fix America's problems. Well, I am that businessman."
"Chris Christie has been saying for a long time he's not interested in running. The media is trying to create a story by sucking Chris Christie into race, just like they made a story by sucking Rick Perry into the race."
"It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed."
"The American people, Neil, are sick and tired of excuses. They are sick and tired of the blame game. And they're sick and tired of the deception coming from this president and this administration. This is why I believe that I am doing so well in the polls."
"The one thing that the President can do is to establish a real energy independence plan. We have all the recources we need right here in this country to establish energy independence if we had the leadership."
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netyanahu made it real clear. They're willing to be generous on some other concessions but not on the border issue. And I don't blame him."
"Spending time at the Federal Reserve was a good learning opportunity for me. It helped me to understand economic philosophies and polices that I had not previously known about."
"The endorsement process is an evolution. What you try to do is you endorse someone that you believe in and their ideas and their solutions align with yours."
"The biggest - one of the biggest barriers to driving economic growth is the capital gains tax rate. I propose taking it to zero."
"We need to lower tax rates for everybody, starting with the top corporate tax rate. We need to simplify the tax code. The ultimate answer, in my opinion, is the fair tax, which is a fair tax for everybody, because as long as we still have this messed-up tax code, the politicians are going to use it to reward winners and losers."
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