Herman Cain takes questions from students in the 2012 Election course.

Herman Cain’s father walked off a farm with only the clothes on his back. He was 18, and the only equity he had was “sweat equity,” Cain, the former pizza executive who briefly led polls last year for the Republican presidential nomination, told a political science class of some 200 University of Miami students on September 18 in Storer Auditorium.

“He applied that sweat equity in working three jobs to be able to achieve his dream…to give my brother and I a better start in life than he got,” Cain said of his father.

His hour-long talk was the highlight of The 2012 Election, a course that covers topics such as the role of elections in a democracy, polling, election law, voter mobilization, and congressional and state elections. It is taught by UM professors Casey Klofstad, Christopher Mann, and Joseph Uscinski, and features a different guest speaker at each class session.

Last Tuesday it was Cain. The one-time GOP frontrunner who touted a 9-9-9 tax plan that would have replaced most taxes with a 9 percent flat tax on business transactions, income, and sales, Cain opened the class by urging students to pursue their dreams. He said many of his own achievements—from becoming a pizza chain CEO to running for president of the United States—were not necessarily his goals. “All I knew was, if I applied the principles that I saw my dad apply, I could do whatever I wanted to do in this country. And I did,” explained.

He described the three phases of his presidential run: “Have you lost your mind,” “It’s like drinking from a fire hydrant,” and “What happens after you drop out” of the race.

Cain, who dropped out of the presidential race amid allegations of sexual infidelity, blasted the media for not investigating those accusations, saying that the charges hurt members of his family. He said he is “still on a mission to make a difference in this country—to make sure that people have the facts and the truth in order to make informed decisions.”

He attacked the current tax code, calling it complicated and costly and “the new slavery on all of us.”

He called on students to do three things: to stay informed, stay involved, and stay inspired.