WASHINGTON – Herman Cain, the Republican presidential candidate with the sharp wit and easy-to-remember tax plan, is a cancer survivor, radio host and former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza. On the campaign trail, he talks up his business experience, casting himself as a "problem solver" and Washington outsider.

But the role that helped propel Cain into politics was that of an ultimate Washington insider: industry lobbyist.

From 1996, when he left the pizza company, until 1999, Cain ran the National Restaurant Association, a once-sleepy trade group that he transformed into a lobbying powerhouse. He allied himself closely with cigarette makers fighting restaurant smoking bans, spoke out against lowering blood-alcohol limits as a way to prevent drunken driving, fought an increase in the minimum wage and opposed a patients' bill of rights – all in keeping with the interests of the industry he represented.

It was a role that gave him an intimate view of the way Washington works, putting him in close proximity to Republican leaders at the time, including Newt Gingrich, now one of his presidential rivals, and John Boehner, now speaker of the House.

And it helped Cain lay the groundwork for the next chapter in his life, his entry into electoral politics, beginning with a short-lived bid for the White House in 2000.

Those who knew him then could see his ambitions developing. Rob Meyne, an official at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which contributed handsomely to the restaurant group, wrote in a 1999 email message to his colleagues that Cain's presidential plans were "not totally unexpected." In the message, part of an online archive of tobacco industry documents, a wry and somewhat skeptical Meyne assesses Cain's chances.

"Nice to have goals, huh?" Meyne wrote, speculating that perhaps Cain wanted to be vice president or had a Cabinet post in mind. "In any event," he went on, "Cain brings some positives. He is a genuine 'anti-government mandate' conservative who happens to be an African-American. He is a wonderful speaker and would be an effective and charismatic candidate. He is also good on our issues."

Emphasis on Godfather job

Cain, 65, declined to be interviewed for this article. He does not hide his experience at the restaurant group – it is mentioned on his website – but on the campaign trail he emphasizes his earlier stint running Godfather's, though he has not run a major corporation for more than a decade.

Cain burst into the spotlight in 1994, two years before he joined the trade group full time, while still running Godfather's. As the association's unpaid chairman, he sparred with President Bill Clinton during a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting on health care. Cain insisted that the Clinton plan would cost jobs, asking, "If I'm forced to do this, what will I tell those people whose jobs I'm forced to eliminate?"

Their polite, if pointed, back and forth – Clinton pushed back with calculations that Cain declared "incorrect" – made the pizza executive a minor celebrity and sent the White House scrambling to respond.

"That was a very seminal moment for Herman," said Stephen Caldeira, who later ran the association's communications operation under Cain. "I think that was when he got the political bug."

He caught the eye of Jack Kemp, a leading Republican in Washington who shared his free market views. In 1996, when Bob Dole sought the White House with Kemp as his running mate, Cain advised them. That same year, after a headhunting firm identified Cain as a possible successor to the restaurant association's departing chief executive, he signed on.

When Cain took the helm of the restaurant association, anti-drunken-driving groups were waging a campaign to lower the legal blood-alcohol limit from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent – a change that restaurant owners feared would hurt liquor sales. In an opinion article in his local newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, Cain called instead for stiffer penalties for drunken driving – an argument that drew a rebuke from Diane Riibe, a board member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"Mr. Cain and those he represents are in the business of selling alcohol," Riibe wrote, "not saving lives."

Anti-tobacco groups were also upset with positions he advocated. Because the cigarette makers had a less-than-stellar image, they often built lobbying partnerships with other industries.

He raised trade group's profile

Under Cain's leadership, the restaurant association opposed higher taxes on cigarettes and the use of federal money to prosecute cigarette makers for fraud – positions Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said had little to do with the restaurant business.

Cain did not entirely become a creature of Washington during his time here. He kept his home in Omaha, where the pizza company was headquartered, and took an apartment in the Northern Virginia suburbs. Weekdays, when he was not traveling, he worked out of the association's Washington headquarters. Weekends, he flew home to his wife in Omaha.

The trade group did not have an especially high profile in Washington when Cain took over. Each year, Fortune magazine published its "Power 25" list of the most influential interest groups in the capital. The restaurant group had never made the list. But by the time Cain left, he said in his book, the group was ranked 15th.

He bolstered his media relations department, hired more lobbyists and demonstrated a knack for simple titles and catchy names – foreshadowing, perhaps, the "9-9-9" tax plan that is a central feature of his presidential campaign. He branded his media strategy "Mo, Me, Mo," for motivation, message, momentum.

He built a nationwide grass-roots program aimed at getting local restaurant owners to come lobby in Washington, on the theory that every lawmaker's district has restaurants. He strengthened state affiliates, creating a new political action committee to help state chapters beat back initiatives they regarded as anti-business.

Cain left the trade group in November 1999. When his own presidential aspirations for 2000 faltered, he became co-chairman of Steve Forbes' unsuccessful campaign. That year, he moved back to his native Georgia to concentrate on his motivational speaking business and writing books. He sought the Republican nomination for the Senate in 2004 – losing badly in the primary to Johnny Isakson, who went on to win the general election.

Meyne, who now works for the gambling industry and declined to be interviewed for this article, predicted as much. His 1999 email assessing Cain's prospects outlined his political weaknesses ("no natural geographic base" and no proven fundraising ability) before offering a prescient conclusion.

"Bottom line: Herman Cain is certain, in one form or another, to be a political factor for a number of years to come," Meyne wrote.

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