Cain Suspends U.S. Presidential Campaign

Herman Cain said Saturday he was suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency, citing the pain caused to his family by repeated sexual misconduct allegations.

"I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family," he told supporters in a typically stoic and emotionally charged speech in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cain said he would endorse another Republican for the party's nomination in the near future, but vowed to continue to speak out in the coming months despite his decision not to go forward.

The dramatic announcement effectively ends a campaign that took Cain, a former pizza executive who rose from humble origins, to the front ranks of a Republican field despite his lack of political experience.

His decision followed a drumbeat of accusations that erupted early last month when two women came forward and claimed that he sexually harassed them while he was president of a restaurant trade lobbying group in the 1990s.

The final blow came this week, when Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White disclosed she had a 13-year extramarital affair with Cain that ended only eight months ago. Cain has vehemently denied the charges.

"These false and unproved allegations continue to be spinned in the media and in the court of public opinion so as to create a cloud of doubt over me and this campaign and my family," he said.

"That spin hurts. It hurts my wife, it hurts my family, it hurts me and it hurts the American people because you are being denied solutions to our problems."