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Lindsey Graham ends his 2016 presidential campaign

<p>Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham is ending his campaign for the White House.</p><p>The South Carolina senator delivered a statement Monday announcing his decision. </p><p>He also characterized President Obama's military strategy against ISIS as being too soft and says he feels confident Republicans will continue to push for a more aggressive approach. (Video via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMDV3VY0tPA" target="_blank">The White House</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehRCd7f5RJc" target="_blank">CNN</a>)</p><p>"I'm far more confident today that our party will reject the Obama doctrine of leading from behind and will provide the strong leadership America needs to restore our military and take the fight to our enemies," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k44NsbT-Zw" target="_blank">Graham said</a>.</p><p>Graham leaves the presidential race after struggling to gain any real traction in polls. (Video via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsAe-WdNRak" target="_blank">MSNBC</a>)</p><p>An average of recent nationwide polls on <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html" target="_blank">RealClearPolitics</a> has him at or below 1 percent support for the GOP presidential nomination.</p><p><i>This video includes images from Getty Images.</i></p>
Posted at 8:52 AM, Dec 21, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-21 11:23:22-05

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Monday he was ending his 2016 presidential campaign.

The South Carolina senator posted a video saying he had run "a campaign we can be proud of" focused on the nation's security.

Graham, 60, is an Air Force veteran and reservist and a foreign policy hawk who said he was running for president because the job called for someone with experience. He delivered several wry one-liners during a presidential debate early this fall. But he was left out of the most recent debate because his poll numbers had dropped below the threshold.

Graham announced his candidacy in June. He was urged to run by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, who was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008.

Copyright 2015 Scripps Media, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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