Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is suspending his campaign to win the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, announcing the decision in a speech to the Eagle Forum in St. Louis on Friday afternoon.

Mr. Perry, who served 14 years as governor of Texas, had struggled to raise money and gain traction in a crowded and heavily experienced field.

He said God works in mysterious ways, but his political future had become clear to him.

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who insisted he learned lessons from his disastrous 2012 presidential campaign, dropped his second bid for the White House on Friday after just 100 days.

"Today, I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States," Perry said in an address in St. Louis that virtually mirrored his standard stump speech until the very end. "Life is good. I am a blessed man."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced Friday he is ending his presidential campaign.

Perry announced the end of his campaign at the Eagle Forum -- an event founded by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly -- in St. Louis, Missouri.

"We have a tremendous field – the best in a generation – so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too," Perry said.