6 Things You Didn't Know About Godfather's Pizza

Throughout our history, we've elected (or rejected) presidential candidates who had previous jobs that were — let's be honest here — basically pretty boring. General. Governor. Congressman. Lawyer. Peanut farmer. Vice president (probably the most soporific of all). How refreshing, then — how exciting — for us here at The Daily Meal to have the chance to vote, in the next Republican presidential primary, for a man who actually ran a restaurant chain, and then headed up the whole darn National Restaurant Association.

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I mean, some of us probably won't vote for him, either because we're not Republicans or because we'd rather lend our support to, oh, maybe a chemical company executive or something — but at least we have the chance to elevate a guy who, at least in some small way, is one of our own.

The man we're talking about, of course, is Herman Cain, who parlayed a successful stint managing 400 Burger King units in the Philadelphia area into a post as chairman and CEO of the Godfather's Pizza chain, which he ran from 1986 to 1996 and turned into a very successful enterprise — and who is now running a primary campaign with some interesting proposals.

I must admit that I have never eaten a Godfather's pizza. The company was founded in Omaha in 1973 and today includes more than 600 "stores" (as the fast-food folks call their, um, fast-food joints) in about 40 states — but there has never been one near anywhere I've lived, on either coast. I plan to remedy this situation as soon as I can, but in the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit about Godfather's.

What I found surprised me a little: Among other things, it has inspired comedy and parody, provoked criticism, and taught Herman Cain invaluable lessons.