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Former President George H.W. Bush, wife Barbara hospitalized

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former President George H. W. Bush was hospitalized in Houston.

HOUSTON >> Former President George H.W. Bush was admitted to an intensive care unit on Wednesday, and his wife, Barbara, was hospitalized as a precaution, according to his spokesman.

The former president was admitted to the ICU at Houston Methodist Hospital to “address an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. McGrath said the former first lady was hospitalized as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing.

“Doctors performed a procedure to protect and clear his airway that required sedation. President Bush is stable and resting comfortable in the ICU, where he will remain for observation,” McGrath said in the statement.

The 41st president was admitted to the hospital on Saturday for shortness of breath, McGrath said in an email to The Associated Press earlier Wednesday. McGrath said the 92-year-old was responding well to treatments.

The 41st president was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, McGrath said in an email to The Associated Press earlier Wednesday.

“Doctors and everyone are very pleased, and we hope to have him out soon,” McGrath said.

Bush’s chief of staff, Jean Becker, told the Houston Chronicle and KHOU-TV that Bush was expected to go home in a couple of days.

Bush, who served as U.S. president from 1989 to 1993, has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility. He was hospitalized in Maine in 2015 after falling at his summer home and breaking a bone in his neck, and was hospitalized in Houston the previous December for about a week for shortness of breath. He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues.

Despite the loss of mobility, Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump in Kennebunkport, Maine. Last summer, Bush led a group of 40 wounded warriors on a fishing trip at the helm of his speedboat, three days after his 92nd birthday celebration.

Bush’s office announced earlier this month that he and his wife of more than 70 years, Barbara, would not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration this week due to the former president’s age and health.

George Herbert Walker Bush, born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, also served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice president.

His son, George W. Bush, was elected president in 2000 and served two terms. Another son, Jeb — a former Florida governor — made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in 2016. Only one other U.S. president, John Adams, had a son who also became president.

12 responses to “Former President George H.W. Bush, wife Barbara hospitalized”

  1. NanakuliBoss says:

    Hope the Lord watches over them. Will pray for their family and recovery.

  2. residenttaxpayer says:

    Speedy recovery Mr. and Mrs. Bush……

  3. Cellodad says:

    Echo the preceding posts. Best wishes for a quick recovery. They are both good people and H.W. is an American hero.

  4. butinski says:

    Both are good people and served us well.

  5. mctruck says:

    I met up with a former retired Naval submarine sailor and whose name I forget after many years who was in the crew that rescued the elder Bush in WWII from his downed aircraft in the Pacific? I remember his saying that while he was in the White House the submarine crew was invited yearly to have dinner at the White House. A Bubbly sort of guy who reminded me of a pirate in them old movies with a patch over his eye and a peg leg.

  6. inHilo says:

    Hope and well wishes to an honorable man and woman, both of whom served our country to the best of their abilities.

  7. WizardOfMoa says:

    Prayers and love from across the sea.

  8. cojef says:

    Hope and pray for their speedy recoveries! They both served their country with gusto and are patriots.

  9. KamIIIman says:

    I pray for comfort and no pain. If it is their time to pass on, then God please give them safe passage and not pain.

  10. nodaddynotthebelt says:

    Bush served us with class and dignity befitting a president. May he recover and continue with his life.

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