George H.W. Bush hospitalized
Ex-president, 93, stable after infection spread to his blood
HOUSTON — Former President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized in Houston with an infection, just after attending the funeral of his wife, Barbara, a spokesman said.
Jim McGrath said Monday on Twitter that the 93-year-old Bush is “responding to treatments and appears to be recovering.” He was admitted Sunday morning to Houston Methodist Hospital after an infection spread to his blood, McGrath said.
Barbara Bush was laid to rest Saturday in a ceremony attended by her husband and former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and their wives, along with current first lady Melania Trump. Mrs. Bush was 92, and she and her husband had been married 73 years — the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history.
George H.W. Bush uses a wheelchair and an electric scooter for mobility after developing a form of Parkinson’s disease, and he has needed hospital treatment several times in recent years for respiratory problems.
He attended the funeral wearing a pair of knitted socks decorated in blue, red and yellow books — a tribute to his late wife’s work promoting literacy.
McGrath wouldn’t elaborate Monday night on the specifics of Bush’s condition, saying additional updates would be issued “as events warrant.” But he said the 41st president was eager to get well so he can get to his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
“He’s the most goal-oriented person on this planet,” McGrath said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush indicated during his eulogy Saturday that his father had been hospitalized recently at the same time Barbara Bush was in the hospital for the last time. Those hospitalizations were not publicly disclosed at the time.
“I think Dad got sick on purpose so that he could be with her,” Jeb Bush said.
First lady Melania Trump tweeted Monday evening that she was sending “healing thoughts of strength, along with prayers, for President George HW Bush tonight.”
On Friday, during the public viewing of Barbara Bush’s casket, George H.W. Bush offered his hand to many of the around 2,500 people who walked through the church to pay their respects.
A year ago this month, he spent two weeks in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.