If you traveled to Washington in October 2009 for Americans For Prosperity?s national summit, you might remember the loud applause following Herman Cain’s speech to the assembled crowd. (Missed it? You can see him about halfway through this video clip, which also features other high-profile political figures who addressed the AFP summit.)
Now, The Atlantic details Cain?s plans to run for the Oval Office:
Cain was born to working-class parents in Georgia and earned a degree in mathematics from Morehouse College, then a master?s in computer science from Purdue. He got a job doing work for the Navy on fire-control systems for ships and fighter planes, but gravitated to business?Coca-Cola, Pillsbury, and Burger King?and eventually became CEO of Godfather?s Pizza, which he ran for 10 years.
His entrance into national politics was a fluke?albeit, if he runs, an enormously beneficial one. In 1994, Cain, then still CEO of Godfather?s Pizza, participated in a town-hall meeting that Bill Clinton held to drum up support for his flagging health-care plan. He challenged the president?s claim that restaurateurs would bear only a marginal new cost. Clinton objected, but Cain wouldn?t relent. ?I?d had my financial people run the numbers,? he told me. The Wall Street Journal published them, and after Clinton?s plan collapsed, Newsweek identified Cain as one of its ?saboteurs??a badge of honor, especially among conservatives today.
