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!   

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

Cain as a Burger King veep. Ebony, April 1984

"This Pizza Man Delivers." Cain, after taking over at Godfather's Pizza. Black Enterprise, February 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

"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 pieces together a hot deal." Black Enterprise, August 1988

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Dave Gilson

Senior Editor

Dave Gilson is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him at dgilson (at) motherjones (dot) com. RSS | Twitter