ATLANTA, GA─Politician and business executive, Herman Cain, who ran as a presidential candidate for the Republican party, died at the age of 74 on Thursday, July 30. He was hospitalized in an Atlanta area hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 on June 29.

“We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight. He had trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital by ambulance,” said Dan Calabrese, the editor of Mr. Cain’s website. Calabrese mentioned that Cain was in a high-risk group because he had a history with Stage 4 cancer.

Cain was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in Atlanta. He graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and received a Master of Science in Computer Science from Purdue University.

He worked for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta as a computer systems analyst, as a business executive at Burger King, and was appointed as the chairman and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.

In 1994, he challenged former President Bill Clinton on healthcare reform during a town hall meeting, which later led him to become a newspaper columnist and radio host. In May 2011, Cain announced his 2012 presidential candidacy. By the fall, he proposed a 9–9–9 tax plan, an idea that would have replaced the entire federal tax code with three simple taxes of 9 percent – one on income, one on business, and one on sales.

In November 2011, Cain’s campaign faced allegations of sexual misconduct; two female employees complained about inappropriate behavior by Cain during his tenure at the National Restaurant Association. He denied all the accusations, but the campaign was suspended on December 3, 2011. Cain was involved in politics afterward and became a co-chairman of Black Voices for Trump.

“My friend Herman Cain, a Powerful Voice of Freedom and all that is good, passed away this morning. Herman had an incredible career and was adored by everyone that ever met him, especially me…He was a very special man, an American Patriot, and great friend,” said President Trump