Cain 'suspends' US presidential campaign

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A defiant Herman Cain suspended his presidential bid on Saturday, citing the painful toll that 'false and unproved' allegations of sexual misconduct have had on his wife and family.

To a gasp from a crowd of supporters, the once little-known businessman said, "I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family."

The dramatic announcement effectively ended a campaign that had begun to nosedive amid damaging sexual misconduct allegations after a meteoric rise that had put Caine at the front of a field of experienced politicians seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

Cain said he would endorse another Republican for the party's nomination in the 'near future', and vowed to wage a 'Plan B' campaign for what he dubbed 'Cain Solutions'.

"I am not going to be silenced and I am not going away," Cain said, saying he would remain 'a voice for the people'.

With his wife at his side, Cain said, "I am at peace with my family and I am at peace with myself... I am at peace with my wife and she is at peace with me."

Gloria, the candidate's wife of 43 years, smiled and waved to the crowd of her husband's supporters, who broke into chants of "Gloria, Gloria, Gloria" during Cain's speech outside what was to have been his campaign headquarters.

By choosing to suspend his campaign, rather than definitively shutting it down, Cain is able to continue raising and spending campaign funds.

But his departure clears the field for other Republican hoping to take on President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential elections, boosting the fortunes of current favorites Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, another challenger who has suffered in the polls, was the first to wish Cain well.

"I know this was a difficult decision for Herman Cain, his family and his supporters. He helped invigorate conservative voters and our nation with a discussion of major tax reform," Perry said.

After lagging for months, the former pizza executive caught fire among Tea Party conservatives with a simple and oft-repeated slogan for tax reform - '9-9-9' - that cut through a fog of vague promises by other candidates.

But Cain's dramatic jump from the bottom ranks to the top of the Republican field, vying for frontrunner status with former Massachusetts governor Romney by late October, came tumbling down just as swiftly.

His announcement came in the wake of a drumbeat of sexual misconduct allegations, some of them graphic in detail, that undermined his core image as a devout Christian family man.