Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said that if he were a cabinet secretary, he would want to be Secretary of Defense in an interview with Barbara Walters aired Wednesday on ABC as part of her "10 Most Fascinating People of 2011" series.
"What kind of cabinet position might you like if it were possible?" asked Walters, after Cain said that he thought no candidate would choose him as vice president because of the sexual harassment and affair allegations -- which he continued to deny -- against him that caused him to suspend his campaign.
"We are speaking totally, totally hypothetical, right?" said Cain. "Department of Defense."
"What?" said a surprised Walters. "Not Treasury? I mean you're the 999 man."
"I'm the 999 guy," he said.
"Department of Defense. Why Department of Defense?" she asked.
"Because if I could influence rebuilding our military the way it should be, that would be a task I would consider undertaking."
"If you were secretary of defense it would be important to be familiar with the various countries around the world, and you have had some difficulty with that, Mr. Cain," she said.
"Yes, but I have been doing my homework ever since that difficulty," he replied.
Cain made many foreign policy gaffes throughout his campaign. He struggled to explain his disagreement with President Barack Obama over the Libya intervention in an interview with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last November. The clip of the exchange went viral and added to the perception that the candidate knew little about foreign affairs.
He also warned that China was "trying to develop a nuclear capability" even though the country tested a nuclear device in 1964.
When asked whether he was prepared to answer "gotcha" questions in October, he said, "When they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say, you know, 'I don't know. Do you know?'" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Afghan President Hamid Karzai later shared a laugh over the exchange.
Walters asked Cain to sing at the end of the interview. He sang the Christian hymn "He Looked Beyond My Faults," which he performed at a press conference at the National Press Club last October.
Donald Trump, the Kardashians and Pippa Middleton also made Walters' list of the most fascinating people.
Click to see a slideshow on Herman Cain's gaffes and unforgettable moments:
