But other than that notable omission, which is due to the fact that the book was written before the campaign developed the 9-9-9 tax-reform plan, the book reads exactly like the optimistic, sunny speech that brought down the house at Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll.
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Sprinkled throughout the 167 pages of
This Is Herman Cain! are numerous
interesting tidbits for those fascinated by the pizza mogul–turned–presidential candidate: He wears gold ties because “gold is my power color,” he can see his Secret Service codename being “Cornbread” (one of his favorite foods), and he generally gets standing ovations — except for the one time he spoke before accountants, who are “trained to be unemotional” and reserved their enthusiasm for the written feedback forms.
There’s plenty more throughout the book. Here, in no particular order, are the top ten factoids in
This Is Herman Cain!
Cain’s Relationship with Teleprompters: On page 2, Cain makes it clear he places no faith in teleprompters, saying he doesn’t “do teleprompters” because he is “a leader, not a reader.” But on page 166, Cain concedes that if he becomes president, he will “use a teleprompter, but only to make sure I get the names right.” That’s because “reading it word for word . . . would distract from interjecting some emotion.” Flip-flop? Or simply an evolution in his thoughts about teleprompters over the course of 164 pages? That’s for you to decide.
Cain’s Early Leadership Qualities: When he was just eight years old, Cain gave his first speech at his church. He first ran for office in seventh grade, vying to be class president. He lost, but ran again when he was a high-school senior, “having been urged to do so by some of my classmates who recognized leadership qualities in me before I did.” He doesn’t say whether that recognition became widespread among his classmates: There is no mention of whether Cain won that election.
The Hillarycare Speech: Cain had a distinguished career by 1994, but it was his speech to President Clinton detailing how the Clintons’ health-care program would derail the economy that first catapulted the businessman to political fame. Because of his respect for the presidential office, Cain says he was “nervous” before speaking — an unusual sentiment for him. Cain told Clinton that the cost of his proposed health-care program “is simply a cost that will cause us to eliminate jobs.” His four-minute speech to Clinton elicited a response: In the months following the speech, “hundreds of people let me know — either in person or by letter — that my town hall meeting ‘chat’ with President Clinton had inspired them to telephone their congressperson and to believe that . . . something could be done to stop” Hillarycare.
Cain Loves the Number 45: Cain was born in 1945, and he sees the number 45 as significant in his life. In a chapter entitled “‘Forty-five’ — A Special Number,” Cain details some of the ways 45 has popped up in his life: A vital flight was numbered 1045, an important speech he gave in Tennessee was interrupted by applause 45 times, and a weekly column in June, “Watch and Hope Won’t Work,” reached exactly 645 words. His first exposure to
The Road to Serfdom was when someone sent him the 1945
Reader’s Digest article that condensed Hayek’s famous work. Of course, there’s one more reason 45 is so special to Cain: The next president will be number 45. And as Cain notes, “In 2013, my first year in the White House, Gloria and I will be celebrating our forty-fifth wedding anniversary.”
Cain’s Literary Background:
This Is Herman Cain! is not Cain’s first book. He’s written four other books:
Leadership Is Common Sense(1997),
Speak as a Leader (1999),
CEO of SELF: You’re in Charge(2001),
They Think You’re Stupid: Why Democrats Lost Your Vote and What Republicans Must Do to Keep It (2005). (Considering the Democratic sweep in 2006, Cain may have not published that last tome at the most auspicious time.) He is also a poet under the name “The Hermanator.” When his first grandchild, Celena, was born in 1999, he was moved to write a four-stanza tribute entitled “Little Faces.” Sample stanza: “For a moment, I didn’t know who I was or where / I could only think of her and so happy to be there / Born into the world with all the other little faces / What will we do, to make it a better place?”
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