ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader and 14-term congressman, said Tuesday he was abandoning his second bid for the presidency after a poor, fourth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses.
"I gave this campaign everything I had in me," Gephardt told a news conference, his voice breaking at times. "Today my pursuit of the presidency has reached its end. I'm withdrawing as a candidate and returning to private life after a long time in the warm light of public service."
Gephardt said he would serve out his final year in Congress.
In 1988, Gephardt won Iowa in his first unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination. On Monday, despite a strong field organization and union endorsements, Gephardt finished fourth in Iowa, behind John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean.
