The 44-year old Indian-American governor was once seen as a rising star in the GOP. But even before he enters the race - as he's expected to do Wednesday - his presidential hopes are dimming.

At 44, Jindal is among the youngest candidates in the Republican field, but he had an early start on many fronts, graduating from Brown University at age 20 and forgoing acceptance to both Harvard and Yale to become a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University studying health policy.

Jindal made his announcement early Wednesday afternoon on social media ahead of his formal campaign launch scheduled for later in the day. He posted a video of himself and his wife, Supriya, telling their three children the news:

Gov. Bobby Jindal, who became Louisiana’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction but whose popularity has plummeted as the state struggled with a $1.6 billion shortfall, announced on Wednesday that he is running for president in 2016.

Mr. Jindal, 44, who became the nation’s first Indian-American governor when he took office in 2008, joins the crowded field of Republican contenders in what even his supporters call a long-shot candidacy in which he faces several disadvantages.