(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-23 09:09

NAPLES, Fla. -- Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.

Republican presidential hopeful, former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., addresses supporters during a post-primary campaign rally on the campus of The University of South Carolina Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008, in Columbia, S.C. [Agencies]

"Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement.

Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.

In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination.