Herman Cain Campaign Came Up With List Of Foreign Leaders To Commit To Memory

Herman Cain's campaign came up with a list of foreign leaders for him to memorize after he said didn't need to know the president of Uzbekistan by name, according to Foreign Policy .

In early October, the Christian Broadcasting Network asked the former Godfather's Pizza CEO if he was ready for "gotcha" questions. "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?" he said.

Then-candidate George W. Bush could not name the leaders of Chechnya, India and Pakistan in a November 1999 interview with Andy Hiller, a Boston television political reporter.

After the CBN appearance in October, Cain's campaign made a list of 20 foreign leaders to commit to memory, reports Foreign Policy . Cain also hired former U.S. Navy commander J.D. Gordon to serve as vice president for communications and senior adviser for foreign policy and national security after his campaign saw him in one of his frequent appearances on "Fox News ."

Cain said he "misspoke" after he said he would negotiate the release of one American soldier for freeing all prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in a recent interview with CNN 's Wolf Blitzer.

Cain is surging in Republican primary polls, challenging former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's position as frontrunner.