• Politics

Jeb Bush Drops Out of Presidential Race

2 minute read
Updated: | Originally published: ;

Jeb Bush formally ended his painful run for the White House on Saturday night, telling supporters that “our nation’s bright light has become little more than a flicker.”

“Tonight I am suspending my campaign,” the former Florida governor told a crowd of supporters. “The people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken. I respect their decision.”

Bush had struggled in early primary states, including in South Carolina’s vote on Saturday, which Donald Trump won. The full results had not even been announced when Bush took the stage to say he was suspending his campaign.

Even in exiting, Bush stood fast against the angry mood of the country that helped Trump log wins. If that’s what America wanted, then they’d have to look away from Bush.

“In this campaign, I have stood my ground. I have refused to bend to the political whims,” Bush said in a somber hotel ballroom in Columbia, S.C.

Bush acknowledged the campaign was brutal, especially in a year when all laws of political physics seemed to evaporate. He called his staffers and supporters “fellow grinders.”

Many of Bush’s top advisers and aides were in the ballroom as he spoke. It was obvious some had been crying and others were visibly pained. South Carolina voters who came to support Bush were shocked by the news, letting out a gasp when he told them it was over.

“America is a country that thinks big, acts boldly and leads without apology,” Bush said. He said it was up for the next President to do that.

Bush’s rivals for the Republican nomination offered praise for the governor in their more triumphant speeches on Saturday night.

“Governor Bush brought honor and dignity to this race,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said, adding that Bush “ran a campaign based on ideas, based on policy, based on substance, a man who didn’t go to the gutter and engage in insults and attacks.”

See Jeb Bush's Life in Photos

Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, Jan. 1, 1955.Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, Marvin, Neil, and Jeb Bush, fall 1963.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, George, Jeb, Marvin, George W., Neil, and Barbara Bush, 1966.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush (center) was the varsity tennis team captain during his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., 1971. Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George Bush and his four sons, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970. Bob E. Daemmrich—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb and Columba Bush on their wedding day, Feb. 23, 1974.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush loudly applauds his father, Republican presidential hopeful George Bush, at a campaign rally in Concord, N.H. on Feb. 28, 1980.Frank Lorenzo—Bettmann/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Vice President George Bush holds a fish with his sons George W. and Jeb during a family vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine in Aug. 1983.Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right (without children): Neil and Sharon Bush, George W. Bush and wife Laura, Barbara and George Bush, Margaret and Marvin, Bobby Koch and Dorothy, Jeb and Columba, are seen in this Bush family photo taken in Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986.Dave Valdez—White House/Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush plays cards with his son while riding in a recreational vehicle, Nov. 8, 1993.Christopher Little—Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush is interviewed at a Miami Radio Station, WIOD, Mar. 1980. He went on to become Governor of Florida in 1999.Tim Chapman—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at the Republican Governors' Convention in New Orleans, 1998. Nina Berman—SIPA
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Texas governor George W. Bush celebrates good news with his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, while watching the presidential election returns, prior to being elected as President of the United States, inside the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Nov. 7, 2000. Brooks Kraft—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, studies his laptop watching vote returns for his reelection his wife Columba Bush and his parents, former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush in Miami on Nov. 5, 2002.Joe Burbank—Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, campaigns around Florida with Governor Jeb Bush, left, Senator Marco Rubio, right, and Congressman Connie Mack, left back of head, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Oct., 31, 2012. Melina Mara—The Washington Post/Getty Images
Jeb Bush speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.
Jeb Bush speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com