Herman Cain - Wikipedia

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945)[2] is an American politician and author, business executive, radio host, syndicated columnist, and Tea Party activist from Georgia.[3][4][5] He was a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.[3]

Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.[6] Cain pursued graduate studies at Purdue University and graduated with a Master of Science in Computer Science in 1971,[7] while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy.[8] In 1977, he joined Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis where he later became vice president.[9] 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.[10]

Cain was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch from 1989 to 1991.[11] He was deputy chairman, from 1992 to 1994, and chairman, from 1995 to 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.[11] In 1995, Cain was appointed by Newt Gingrich to the Kemp Commission,[12] and was a senior economic adviser to the Bob Dole presidential campaign.[13] Cain became the CEO of the National Restaurant Association,[14] in which he served as president and CEO from 1996 to 1999.[14] 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.[15] Cain has served as a member of the board of directors of several companies, including Aquila, Inc., Nabisco, Whirlpool, Reader's Digest, and AGCO.[10][16][17]

In May 2011, Cain announced his presidential candidacy. By the fall, his proposed 9–9–9 tax plan and debating performances had made him the Republican front-runner and he briefly led President Obama in some polls.[18] In November, however, his campaign struggled with allegations of sexual misconduct—all denied by Cain[19]—and he announced its suspension on December 3.[20] At the end of 2011, the Pew Research Center reported that, of the Republican candidates, "Herman Cain was the most covered candidate" during the year.[21] On May 15, 2012, Cain endorsed Mitt Romney.[22]