Former GOP presidential candidate

ATLANTA

Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74.

Dan Calabrese, who authored a post on Cain’s website announcing the death, told The Associated Press that Cain died at an Atlanta hospital early Thursday morning.

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 a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on

June 20. Cain had been co-chairman of Black Voices for Trump.

Trump offered his condolences in a tweet Thursday in which he said he had also spoken by telephone to Cain’s family.

Cain honed his speaking 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 many tea party supporters and other conservatives.

Cain

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.

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?”

The centerpiece of Cain’s presidential campaign was his 9-9-9 plan, which would have replaced the current tax code with a 9% tax on personal and corporate income and a 9% national sales tax. Cain said the plan’s simplicity would stimulate the economy by giving investors certainty.

Cain served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 199296. After moving back to his native Georgia, he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, losing to Rep. Johnny Isakson in the primary.

Cain is survived by his wife, Gloria Etchison, their children and grandchildren.