Ex-President Bush and wife Barbara in hospital
FORMER US president George Bush senior – who led his country between 1989 and 1993 – and his wife Barbara have both been taken to hospital.
Mr Bush, who is 92, was moved to intensive care at Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas, where doctors cleared his airways after he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He had suffered shortness of breath on Saturday.
His 91-year-old wife, the former First Lady, was taken to the same hospital as a precautionary measure after coughing and suffering from fatigue yesterday.
The couple celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary on January 6.
The 41st president, who suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease which means he can no longer walk, recently hit the headlines after saying that neither he nor his wife would attend Donald Trump’s inauguration tomorrow for medical reasons.
Mr Bush, one of only two men to serve as, and father, a president, published a note to the Presidentelect, saying: “My doctor says if I sit outside in January, it will likely put me six feet under, so I guess we’re stuck in Texas. We will be with you and the country in spirit. “I want you to know that I wish you the very best as you begin this incredible journey of leading our great country. If I can ever be of help, please let me know.” The former president, a decorated Second World War naval pilot who served as vice president under Ronald Reagan and was director of the CIA before that, is America’s oldest living former commander-in-chief. Neither the father-of-six nor his son, 43rd president George W Bush, endorsed Mr Trump and it was reported that the elder Mr Bush, whose son, Jeb, lost the race for the Republican nomination, voted for Hillary Clinton, a claim denied by a spokesman for the family.