October 14, 2011

Herman Cain, With Extra Cheese


Way before he served up the 9-9-9 Plan, Herman Cain was best known as the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. Which means that anyone doing oppo research on the GOP presidential front-runner du jour is going to have to dig through his past as a junk-food magnate, from his start as a business analyst at Coke and his rise through the ranks at Burger King to his eventual breakthrough as the first black executive to head a leveraged buyout of a fast-food company.

A quick perusal of his old press clippings didn’t turn up anything as potentially embarrassing as, say, this photo of a cash-hungry Mitt Romney, just a few morsels that are more cheesy than saucy. Enjoy!   

Herman Cain Coke: Jet, April 25, 1974

Cain bubbles up at Coke. Jet, April 25, 1974

 

Herman Cain Burger King: Ebony, April 1984

Cain as a Burger King veep. Ebony, April 1984

 

Herman Cain pizza: Black Enterprise, February 1988

“This Pizza Man Delivers.” Cain, after taking over at Godfather’s Pizza. Black Enterprise, February 1988

 

Herman Cain pizza: Ebony, April 1988

“In 1986, Cain…was named president of Godfather’s Pizza, and by most accounts, it was an offer he could have easily refused.” Ebony, April 1988

 

Herman Cain pizza: Ebony, April 1988

“Sampling a pizza is never a problem for Godfather’s president. Cain is a frequent visitor to the company’s test kicthens.” Ebony, April 1988

 

Herman Cain pizza: Black Enterprise, August 1988

“Herman Cain pieces together a hot deal.” Black Enterprise, August 1988

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate