Herman Cain (creative commons)

Cain and his wife, Gloria, walked hand-in-hand to the campaign’s new headquarters office in Atlanta and told supporters and donors their plans for the future.

“I am at peace with my God. I am at peace with my wife and she is at peace with me,” Cain said. “Becoming president was Plan A. As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign.”

Cain has faced plenty of controversy over the past several weeks. Many women have come forward alleging Cain sexually harassed them. In response to the claims, Cain told the crowd, "These false and unproved allegations continue ... to create a cloud of doubt over me and this campaign and my family. That spin hurts. It hurts my wife, it hurts my family.”

Despite his lack of experience in politics and Washington, Cain was scoring high in national polls. A CBS News poll released in November had Cain beating Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for first place with GOP voters. 

Cain told the crowd he will endorse one of his GOP rivals and will continue to work on Washington from the outside. 

See reactions culled from the Twitterverse below.

 Reach writer Mike Vulpo here; reach Catherine here.