Herman Cain dies of COVID-19

Despite doctors saying five days ago he would likely recover, businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died from the coronavirus, his website announced on Thursday. He was 74.

Who was Cain? He had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Morehouse College and a master’s degree from Purdue University in computer science but spent much of his life in business, including a stint as a Burger King executive and then CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. Cain ran for president in 2012 on a conservative economic platform of major tax cuts, which included his “9-9-9 Plan.” Accusations of sexual harassment and infidelity, which he denied, led him to end his bid early. President Donald Trump briefly considered him for a seat on the Federal Reserve board last year. Cain, who once served as an associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta, beat stage 4 colon cancer in 2006 and said he believed God wanted him to “do something different than stay in cruise control the rest of my life.” He tweeted a photo of himself without a mask on at Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., in June.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Marvin Olasky’s interview with Cain during his presidential campaign.