The 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, was hospitalized in Houston, Texas over the weekend following complaints he was suffering from shortness of breath. According to the Houston Chronicle, chief of staff Jean Becker said Bush Sr. was “fine” and “doing really well” at Houston Methodist Hospital, where spokesperson Jim McGrath tweeted he’d been taken on Saturday. “Hope to have him out soon,” he added.
.@GeorgeHWBush was taken to @MethodistHosp Sat. for shortness of breath, has responded very well to treatments. Hope to have him out soon.
— Jim McGrath (@jgm41) January 18, 2017
Per an additional statement McGrath provided to local CBS affiliate KHOU, the president is “responding very well” to the antibiotics administered by his doctors, who are “very encouraged” by his progress so far. Yet while Bush is now in stable condition, Becker told the Chronicle medical staff attending to him still aren’t quite sure what caused his latest episode.
Bush Sr. became a household name at least twice throughout the 2016 presidential election. Reports of his allegedly choosing to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over his party’s choice, Donald Trump, stirred conservatives in September. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quipped he was “up in years.” As for the second instance, it arrived a month later when Bush’s letter to Bill Clinton went viral following a particularly nasty debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
More details about Bush’s condition and medical progress is slated to be release late Wednesday morning.
UPDATE: Bush Sr. underwent a procedure to clear his airway at Houston Methodist. Meanwhile, his wife and Former First Lady Barbara Bush was also admitted “after experiencing fatigue and coughing” as a precaution.
(Via Houston Chronicle, KHOU and Washington Post)