We have just learned over the last several hours that former President George H.W. Bush was rushed to the hospital last night.
Bush, who is 92 years old, was taken to Houston Methodist Hospital after experiencing “shortness of breath,” and his chief of staff believes the former president will be able to return home in a few days.
UPDATE on former President George H.W. Bush’s health: “[He] has responded very well to treatments… we hope to have him out soon.” pic.twitter.com/W1NSvfwLdt
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 18, 2017
Due to his old age and declining health, President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush had previously announced they would be unable to attend President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday.
During the 2016 election, both President Bushes were vocal critics of the president-elect, but President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are still planning on attending the inauguration in Washington, D.C.
From NBC News:
“He’s there. He’s fine and he’s doing really well,” the Houston Chronicle quoted Bush chief of staff Jean Becker as saying.
A statement later released by his office said the 92-year-old Bush was “being monitored as a precaution and is resting comfortably.”
Bush, who served as U.S. president from 1989 to 1993, has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility. He was hospitalized in Maine in 2015 after falling at his summer home and breaking a bone in his neck. In December 2014 he was hospitalized in Houston for about a week for shortness of breath. Previous to those stays he spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Bush family and we wish the former president a speedy recovery!