No: 56
Date: 2/1/1994
Name: Herman Cain
Standing on a giant pizza, Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain holds a golf club with a microphone to indicate his dual interests in golf and singing. The genial executive sang in several Omaha Press Club shows, including in 1991 when he sang a song to the tune of "Imagine," "When It Comes to Pizza, Cain is Able." Shown in the background is a famous chorus of other singers to show Cain was in good company, including: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Satchmo, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Elvis, Whitney Houston and James Brown. Also shown in the drawing is the Godfather character from the television commercials. At the induction, the actor appeared in costume, unveiled the Face and deliberately knocked it on the floor. Cain successfully led a leveraged buyout in 1988 of Godfather's from The Pillsbury Company. He had been Godfather's CEO for two years. The year of his unveiling, he became board chairman of the National Restaurant Association and, in 1996, he became the association's CEO and President. A Horatio Alger award recipient, Cain has seven honorary doctorate degrees and is a member of several companies' boards. He would go on to be national co-chair of Steve Forbes' 2000 presidential campaign and was active in Republican politics. Cain had even considered running for president himself, before deciding to support Forbes. Today the charismatic business leader is CEO of T.H.E., Inc., a business and leadership consulting company specializing in keynote speaking and inspirational books and recordings. He is the author of several popular business books, including Leadership is Common Sense and CEO of Self.  Back to Top