George H.W. Bush said to be recovering
Former President George H.W. Bush was “responding and recovering” to treatment at a Houston hospital on Tuesday for an infection that had spread to his blood, according to a family spokesman.
Bush has been hospitalized since Sunday, a day after attending the funeral of his wife, Barbara, who died last week at age 92. The couple was married 73 years, longer than any other U.S. presidential couple.
In a brief post on Twitter, family spokesman Jim McGrath said he could “happily” echo his report from Monday that the 93-yearold former president was “responding to treatments and appears to be recovering.”
George H.W. Bush had used a wheelchair and an electric scooter for mobility since developing a form of Parkinson’s disease, and he has needed hospital treatment several times in recent years for respiratory problems and other infections.
McGrath wouldn’t elaborate Tuesday on the specifics of Bush’s condition, saying only that he would issue updates “when we have something to update.” Late Monday, McGrath described Bush as eager to get well so he could get to his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
“He’s the most goal-oriented person on this planet,” McGrath said. “I wouldn’t bet against him.”
A year ago this month, the nation’s 41st president spent two weeks in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, a constant irritation of the lining of tubes that carry air to one’s lungs. His doctors said chronic bronchitis is a condition more prevalent with age and can aggravate the symptoms of pneumonia. Bush was also hospitalized, for 16 days, in January 2017 for pneumonia.