Former US president George H W Bush in hospital days after funeral of his wife

Former US president George H W Bush was being treated for a blood infection in hospital yesterday, days after the funeral of his wife, Barbara.

His office said on Monday that Mr Bush, 93, was responding to treatment. He was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital early on Sunday, the day after attending the funeral of his wife of 73 years in the same Texas city. Barbara Bush died last Tuesday.

The 41st president greeted mourners at the invitation-only funeral attended by four former presidents, including himself and his son, George W Bush. More than 1,000 people were at the ceremony.

“I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world, and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact,” Mr Bush said after his wife’s death.

Their marriage was the longest presidential union in American history.

They married in 1945, several months before the Second World War ended.

Mr Bush, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is wheelchair-bound as a result, has been repeatedly treated for pneumonia.

His is a less-common version of Parkinson’s that affects only the lower body.

“President Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital ... after contracting an infection that spread to his blood,” his office said.

“He is responding to treatments and appears to be recovering. We will issue additional updates as events warrant.”

George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts, to a wealthy New England political dynasty, the son of Prescott Bush, a banker and US senator for Connecticut.

Mr Bush delayed his acceptance to Yale to enlist in the navy on his 18th birthday and head off to serve.

He went on to fly 58 combat missions during the war. He was shot down over the Pacific by Japanese anti-aircraft fire and rescued by a submarine.

He served as vice president to Ronald Reagan for eight years after losing to him in the 1980 Republican primary, and was elected president in 1988.

After retiring from public life, Mr Bush – a former CIA director – fulfilled a wartime pledge to jump from a plane for fun and went skydiving on his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.

Mr Bush, who served from 1989 to 1993, is the oldest of five living former presidents.

He is also father to Jeb Bush, a contender in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

His office said that the 93-year-old former American president was responding to treatment