Mike Pence bowed out of the presidential race.

The former vice president never got traction. He was doomed — in what would have been a completely incomprehensible eventuality at any time before the rise of Donald Trump — by doing his constitutional duty on January 6, 2021. His approval ratings slid after that day until Pence, a rock-ribbed conservative who was smack in the middle of the consensus on the right almost the entirety of his career, became radioactive in his own party.

This was perverse, but Pence can take comfort knowing that his faithfulness to the Constitution will be long remembered and if he had bowed to Trump’s pressure, the president’s campaign to overturn the election results would have become a genuine constitutional crisis.

A realist might have predicted that Pence’s partnership with Trump would end badly. Politicians don’t usually turn down an opportunity to be on a national ticket, though, and Pence surely figured he could be a positive influence on any Trump administration while perhaps inheriting the mantle at some point. He was indeed a key internal ally of conservatives, and the administration did rack up some impressive victories. Pence was loyal to Trump but, at the end, showed he had higher commitments. When Trump viciously turned on him, it became clear there would be no inheriting.

Pence gave it a go in the 2024 race anyway. On the campaign trail and in debates, he steadfastly defended his actions on January 6. He also warned against following the “siren song” of populism. He was right on most of the substantive questions, especially that the United States is capable of supporting its allies at the same time it tends to priorities at home. Yet not nearly enough people were willing to listen.

Pence’s hand was forced by his difficulty qualifying for the third debate. But there was never really any doubt that if he concluded his campaign couldn’t win, he’d get out rather than take any of the vote share from other non-Trump alternatives. Other candidates should prayerfully consider his example.

At the end of the day, the political weather didn’t favor the former vice president’s candidacy. That says more about the weather than about Mike Pence.