James P. Cain (born October 23, 1957) is a hockey team executive and former United States Ambassador to Denmark from July 2005 to January 2009. He was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on June 30, 2005. He was replaced by

Laurie S. Fulton Laurie Susan Fulton (née Klinkel; born July 2, 1949) is an American attorney, diplomat and the former United States Ambassador to Denmark. She was sworn in on July 15, 2009, and presented her credentials to the Queen of Denmark on August 3, 2009 ...

. Cain is a member of the

North Carolina Republican Party The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Michael Whatley has been the chair since 2019. History Nineteenth century Although Republicans first nominated a candidate for President o ...

. He is a former president of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

team,

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

, a position that he held before becoming an ambassador.

Early life, education, and family

Cain was born and raised in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

. He earned a B.A. degree in Politics and a J.D degree from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of

Sigma Chi Fraternity Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

. In 2016, Alexander Pinczowski, who was married to Cain's daughter Cameron, was killed during a March 22, 2016 ISIS Bombing of the Brussels-National Airport. Cain subsequently acted as the representative of the Pinczowski family, providing the press with Facebook posts from Sascha Pinczowski (also killed in the bombing), a Dutch national and sister of Alexander who had promoted open borders and welcoming of refugees into Belgium.

Business career

He was with the international law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton for 20 years, co-founding the firm's Research Triangle office in 1985. As a lawyer, Cain focused his legal practice on advising corporate and government clients on strategies relating to growth, economic development and community enhancement. Cain took a leave of absence from Kilpatrick Stockton from January 2000 to November 2002 to serve as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the

and their parent company, Gale Force Holdings. He stepped down after the team went to the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

Finals in 2002. He took another leave of absence in 2005 to become

U.S. Ambassador to Denmark The first representative from the United States to Denmark was appointed in 1827 as a Chargé d'Affaires. There followed a series of chargés and ministers until 1890 when the first full ambassador ''(Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten ...

. He rejoined the firm in March 2009. Cain served in leadership positions for numerous civic and non-profit institutions, including the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Character Education Foundation,

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

, American Diabetes Association, and

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He has chaired the Boards of the Food Bank of North Carolina, Communities in Schools of Wake County, and the Eastern North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Cain was named "Business Leader of the Year" by Business Leader Magazine, received the John Ross Leadership Award from the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, and received the National Outstanding Community Service Award from the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...

in 2003. He has received numerous awards including "Business Leader of the Year", "John Ross Leadership Award", and "National Outstanding Community Service Award." In 2020, Delta Crescent Energy LLC, a company partnered by Cain and James Reese, a former officer in the Delta Force, signed an agreement with the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, M ...

to develop oil fields in the region.

Political career

Activism

Cain served as Republican National Committeeman for North Carolina from 2003 to 2005, and served as Regional Chairman and the State Finance Vice Chairman for the Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign. He served as President Bush's Emissary to the Philippines for the inauguration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

in 2004.

Ambassadorship

Cain was nominated by President Bush as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark on June 30, 2005. Following confirmation by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

on July 29, Ambassador Cain took the oath of office in the Old House Chamber of the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina on August 10, 2005. He and his family arrived in Denmark on August 14, 2005, and departed Denmark on January 23, 2009. During his three and a half years in Denmark, Cain oversaw the 13 agencies of the American government that comprised the 150-person US Embassy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. His efforts focused on areas of national security, counter-terrorism, alternative energy and energy security, commerce and investment, and promotion of shared values. Cain was a strong believer in public diplomacy, getting out of the Embassy and "Selling America". His efforts included a 37-day, 1,500 mile "Rediscovery Tour" of Denmark by bicycle, and the publication in December 2008 of the book ''The American: On Diplomacy, Democracy and Denmark.'' On January 16, 2009, Ambassador Cain received the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. Cain is also a member of the

Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society The Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society ( Danish: Kongelige Kjøbenhavnske Skydeselskab og danske Broderskab) was founded some time before 1443 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally it served to train citizens to contribute to the defence of the city bu ...

Sølyst, Klampenborg Sølyst is a former country house located just near the Øresund coast in Klampenborg, Gentofte Municipality, on the northern edge of Copenhagen, Denmark. It now houses the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society. History First owners The first Sølyst, ...

. The Society only allows new members, which are invited by existing ones.

WikiLeaks

In December, 2010, Cain called for the death penalty for Chelsea Manning, the U.S. soldier alleged to have supplied

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

with

diplomatic cables A diplomatic cable, also known as a diplomatic telegram (DipTel) or embassy cable, is a confidential text-based message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or a consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country.Defin ...

and

Iraq War logs Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. He said, "The cables I wrote, they were written for the president, and they're to guide the president on his decision-making. If you disclose those publicly, it can do severe damage to our national security and is, in my opinion, high treason." Cain was quoted in one of the released diplomatic cables as having sought to prevent the Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' from reprinting a series of controversial

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

cartoons in 2006.

Politics

In May 2013, Cain told the press that he is considering running for the U.S. Senate, saying "The race is indeed something that I am considering. Many friends and supporters around the state are encouraging me to challenge Senator Hagan." Cain chose not to run, and Hagan was defeated in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

by Thom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

References

External links

United States Department of State: James P. Cain biographyArticle on the award of the Grand Cross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, James P. 1957 births Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark American Presbyterians Living people North Carolina Republicans People from High Point, North Carolina Wake Forest University School of Law alumni