2012 presidential hopeful dies after contracting virus
ATLANTA — Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEOof a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74.
A post on Cain’s Twitter account Thursday announced the death. Cain had been ill with the virus for several weeks. It’s not clear when or where he was infected, but he was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June. Cain had been co-chair of Black Voices for Trump.
“We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight,” read an article posted on the Twitter account.
Vice President Mike Pence called Cain “an indispensable voice for the Conservative movement” who will be “deeply missed.”
Cain, who had hoped to become the first Black politician to win the GOP nomination, was initially considered a long-shot candidate. His bid was propelled in September 2011 when he won a straw poll vote in Florida, instantly becoming an alternative candidate for Republican voters concerned that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was not conservative enough.
But Cain struggled to respond to accusations that he had sexually harassed several women and — in a viral video — rambled uncomfortably when asked whether he supported or opposed President Barack Obama’s policies in Libya.
There were also gaffes on abortion and torture that led Cain’s critics to question whether he was ready for the White House.
Cain hadhonedhisspeaking skills in the corporate world, then hosted a radio talk show in Atlanta that introduced his political views and up-by-the-bootstraps life story to tea party supporters and other conservatives.
He first ventured into national politics in 1994 when he publicly challenged President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, on his proposal to force employers to buy health insurance for their employees. “For many, many businesses like mine, the cost of your plan is simply a cost that will cause us to eliminate jobs,” Cain told Clinton. “What will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate?”
Afterward, the restaurant industry used Cain as a spokesman as it campaigned against Clinton’s plan, which ultimately failed.
Cain served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1992 to 1996. After moving back to his native Georgia, he ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2004. He lost to Rep. Johnny Isakson in the primary.
Less than two years later, Cain was diagnosed with late-stage cancer in his colon that had spread to his liver. He recovered and later credited God with persuading him to run for president after Obama took office in 2009.
Cain projected a self-confident image that at times bordered on arrogance. He referred to himself in the third person, and his motivations speaking company was named T.H.E. New Voice Inc. The acronym stood for The Hermanator Experience.
Cain’s presidential run was unlikely given his origins. Born in the segregated South, his father worked three jobs as a janitor, barber and chauffeur, while his mother was a servant. He graduated from Morehouse College and received a master’s degree from Purdue University and worked as a civilian mathematician in the Navy.
While it was a good job, Cain said his ambitions were in the corporate world. He wanted to be president of “something somewhere,” he later wrote.
He worked first for CocaCola, became a vice president with Pillsbury, then was appointed to run its struggling Burger King unit in the Philadelphia area. His success prompted Pillsbury officials to ask Cain to take over its floundering Godfather’s Pizza chain. Cain said he returned the franchise to profitability.
The centerpiece of Cain’s presidential campaign was his 9-9-9 plan, which would have replaced the tax code with a 9% tax on personal and corporate income and a 9% national sales tax.
“If 10% is good enough for God, 9% ought to be good enough for the federal government,” he told crowds.
Cain is survived by his wife, Gloria Etchison, their children and grandchildren.