The beginning of 2012 marked the end of Gov. Rick Perry’s wild and ultimately disastrous run for president.

Perry entered the race in the summer of 2011 as a top-tier candidate, seemingly filling Republicans' aching desire for a conservative alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

By the time Perry limped to South Carolina in January, he was a walking dead man, having come in fifth place in the first-test Iowa Caucuses. Perry pulled out of the race on January 19, two days before the South Carolina primary.

Back in Texas, a battle royal was brewing in the race ...

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