Herman Cain, age 74, has died from COVID-19
Herman Cain, a onetime Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, has died from coronavirus.
Soon after the news of Cain's passing, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the former entrepreneur "embodied the American Dream and represented the very best of the American spirit."
"Our hearts grieve for his loved ones, and they will remain in our prayers at this time," McEnany tweeted. "We will never forget his legacy of grace, patriotism, and faith."
After completing his master's degree from Purdue, Cain left the Department of the Navy and began working for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta as a computer systems analyst. In 1977, he moved to
Minneapolis to join
Pillsbury, soon becoming director of business analysis in its restaurant and foods group in 1978.
At age 36, Cain was assigned in the 1980s to analyze and manage 400
Burger King stores in the
Philadelphia area. At the time, Burger King was a Pillsbury subsidiary. Under Cain, his region posted strong improvement in three years. According to a 1987 account in the
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Pillsbury's then-president Win Wallin said, "He was an excellent bet. Herman always seemed to have his act together." At Burger King, Cain "established the BEAMER program, which taught our employees, mostly teenagers, how to make our patrons smile" by smiling themselves. It was a success: "Within three months of the program's initiation, the sales trend was moving steadily higher."
Cain's success at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him president and CEO of another subsidiary,
Godfather's Pizza. On his arrival on April 1, 1986, Cain told employees, "I'm Herman Cain and this ain't no April Fool's joke. We are not dead. Our objective is to prove to Pillsbury and everyone else that we will survive." Godfather's Pizza was performing poorly, having slipped in ranks of pizza chains from third in 1985 to fifth in 1988. Under Cain's leadership, Godfather's closed approximately 200 restaurants and eliminated several thousand jobs, and by doing so returned to profitability. In a leveraged buyout in 1988, Cain, executive vice president and COO Ronald B. Gartlan, and a group of investors bought Godfather's from Pillsbury.
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 then chairman until 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 1995, he was appointed to the
Kemp Commission, and in 1996, he served as a senior economic adviser to
Bob Dole's presidential campaign. From 1996 to 1999, Cain served as president and CEO of the
National Restaurant Association.
In May 2011, Cain announced his
2012 presidential candidacy. By the fall, his proposed
9–9–9 tax plan and debating performances had made him a serious contender for the Republican nomination.
Herman Cain at Oklahoma Trump rally on June 20, 2020.
