What Happened To George H. W. Bush? Former President Hospitalized In Houston, In Stable Condition

UPDATE: 06:25 a.m. EST — Former President George H. W. Bush was admitted to the Methodist Hospital for shortness of breath, his spokesman Jim McGrath tweeted Wednesday. McGrath said the 92-year-old responded “very well” to treatment.

Original story:

Former President George H. W. Bush was hospitalized in Houston, his office Chief of Staff Jean Becker told a Texas TV station early Wednesday. The 92-year-old is the oldest living former U.S. president.

Becker told KHOU 11 News that the former president is in stable condition and is “doing fine.” However, the reason behind Bush’s hospitalization was not disclosed. He is expected to return home after a few days at the Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

More information about Bush’s hospitalization is expected later Wednesday. Bush previously spent a week in a hospital in Maine in 2015 after a fall that left him with a broken bone in his neck.

Bush served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. He also previously served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

After an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1980, Bush was chosen as former President Ronald Reagan’s running mate and went on to become the vice president, spearheading anti-drug drives. He once again ran for presidency in 1992 but lost to Bill Clinton.

According to his profile on the White House website: “[Bush] brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States ‘a kinder and gentler nation’ in the face of a dramatically changing world.”

Earlier this month, Bush celebrated his 72nd wedding anniversary with his wife Barbara Bush. The two are the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history beating John and Abigail Adams, who were married 54 years. The two were married on Jan. 6, 1945, at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye, New York.

The couple has six children including former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. John Ellis “Jeb” Bush. Jeb Bush fought for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination but lost out to President-elect Donald Trump.