I was on the phone earlier explaining why I had decided to ask President Trump not to nominate me to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank. Shortly after I went through the detailed explanation of my reasons, I was informed:
“That’s not what Twitter is saying!”
Oh I bet.
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Twitter wasn’t inside my mind over the course of the past weekend, so I don’t see how it would know. But you’re about to know, because I’m going to tell you – directly from me to you. I suppose the cynics among you may say: “Sure, that’s the spin.” I can’t stop anyone from thinking whatever they want to think, but here’s the truth.
After I went through Phase 1 of the background check, which involves my 50-year business career being picked over like a carcass, I was told they were next checking everything I’d ever written for anything that could be controversial. This includes my time with the North Star Writers Group before we started this site – six years of weekly columns on just about every issue under the sun. Would they find anything controversial?
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I would certainly think so!
At the same time, I was told what the ethical restrictions would be. I would have to let go of most of my business interests. I could not serve on any boards. I could not do any paid speeches. I could not advocate on behalf of capitalism, host my radio show or make appearances on Fox Business.
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Without getting too specific about how big a pay cut this would be, let’s just say I’m pretty confident that if your boss told you to take a similar pay cut, you’d tell him where to go.
But I did like the idea of serving on the Fed! I was convinced I could make a positive difference advocating for better growth and monetary policies. As recently as last Monday I had told President Trump I was all in, and on Friday I was making plans to come to Washington and visit with the senators who were skeptical of my qualifications. Last week I published an Op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal that explained my beliefs on the issues the Fed deals with, and I was prepared to defend these beliefs in meetings with senators and in confirmation hearings.
But the cost of doing this started weighing on me over the weekend. I also started wondering if I’d be giving up too much influence to get a little bit of policy impact. With my current media activities, I can reach close to 4 million people a month with the ideas I believe in.
If I gave that up for one seat on the Fed board, would that be a good trade-off?
I wasn’t sure. On Saturday night I prayed about it. By Sunday morning, I felt God was giving me my answer. I’d prepared a column that was slated to run Monday morning about why I wanted to go forward. I e-mailed Dan and told him not to run it, and that I would explain later.
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When I spoke with Larry Kudlow at the White House on Monday morning, I explained where I stood on things. He went to President Trump and told him, and the president was gracious enough to tweet the following on my behalf:
My friend Herman Cain, a truly wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. I will respect his wishes. Herman is a great American who truly loves our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2019
It was an honor to be considered. Under different circumstances, I would like to have served. I realize not everyone was a fan of my prospective nomination, and that’s OK. I was prepared to make the case for myself and I was prepared to live with the outcome.
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But look: I’m 73 years old and at this stage of my life, I’m doing all the things I want to do. I can go where I want and say what I want and work with the team I’ve enjoyed working with for years now. It’s remarkable how we’ve all stayed together and we all enjoy each other still, and I get a lot of joy out of that at this stage of my life.
I’m still healthy. I still have energy. I still want to do all this. It’s still fun and I do think it’s making a difference.
So anything you hear about a reason other than what I’ve laid out here is (OK, I’ll go ahead and say it) fake news. They don’t have a source. They don’t have inside information.
Only you do, because I just gave it to you.
