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Donna Carson / Reuters file
Former President George H.W. Bush is seen in March 2012.
Former President George H.W. Bush is improving after being hospitalized for bronchitis, and he should be home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family, the hospital said Thursday.
"[I]nstead of battling the lingering effects of bronchitis, the focus of his treatment now centers on a physical therapy program designed to increase his strength in advance of his eventual discharge," The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center said in a statement.
Bush, 88, was admitted Nov. 29 for complications related to bronchitis. At the time, doctors said they expected him to be in the hospital for only a few days.
"Given his current pace of progress, doctors expect that President Bush will be able to celebrate Christmas at home with his family -- though no release date has been set at this time," the hospital added.
Bronchitis is a common condition in which the bronchial tubes in the lungs become inflamed and produce mucus, which creates the need to cough, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can turn serious in people with weak immune systems, including children and the elderly. Symptoms such as chest pain, weakness and coughing typically last two weeks, but can linger for as long as two months.
Bush served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989-1993, the capstone of a long career of public service. He lost his first bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1980, at which time Ronald Reagan chose him to be his running mate. He went on to serve two terms as Reagan’s vice president.
Bush had been a Texas Republican member of the House of Representatives in the 1960s and 1970s and head of the CIA from 1976-1977. The organization’s headquarters in Langley, Va., was later renamed the “George Bush Center for Intelligence.”
Before moving to Texas, where made money in oil and petroleum, Bush served as a combat pilot during World War II and attended Yale University. He got married in 1945.
Bush and his wife, Barbara, had six children; one, Robin, died as a child, according to his official WhiteHouse.gov biography. His son George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States; another son, Jeb Bush, was governor of Florida for nearly a decade, and is considered a top contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
Just this week, Bush's granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, announced she was pregnant with her first child.
In late 2004, Bush teamed up with Bill Clinton to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami. That effort was so successful, the two former presidents did the same for Katrina victims in 2005.
Robert Sullivan / AFP - Getty Images
Leader of an American political dynasty, George Bush's influence was felt beyond his terms as president and vice president. Take a look back at his life and career.
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Get well soon, no one should have to spend their holidays in the hospital.
Please. The Bushes nearly destroyed the country.
No one needs to wish them well.
.
George H W Bush is a wimp, but he is at least bipartisan.
Today's RepubliCON wimps are too partisan.
are you two really that pathetic that you can't wish someone well, what losers
Nominated for oxymoron of the year
Didn't always care for all of his policies, but felt he wasn't really a bad President.
God Speed you to recovery Mr. President.
Get well soon Mr. Bush, so we can try you for the murder of JFK. And so you can watch your son go on trial for war crimes, from your prison cell.
Christmas? Hell people, the man has been a Luciferian for sixty-eight years. Skull and Bones.
"George H W Bush is a wimp"
Pigotry, did you fight the Japanese in WW2? Did you ever have to bail out of a burning aircraft? George H.W. Bush is not a wimp, he's a hero. How about you actually take a look into history before making stupid statements.
"Get well soon Mr. Bush, so we can try you for the murder of JFK."
Oh great, another conspiracy theorist. Are you looking for UFO's or Bigfoot? I suppose you think that 9/11 and Pearl Harbor were inside jobs, so there is really no point in trying to reason with your craziness.
Never liked the guy much but i hope he recovers nicely and gets to go home for the holidays.
An American War Hero who lied about his age so he could fight in WWII.
Probably prefer President Clinton who lied to get out of serving his country.
You mean like Bush Sr., who was a personal friend of Osama bin-Laden?
You mean like Romney getting out of serving while he was over on the French Riviera?
You mean like George Jr. who was AWOL from the National Guard most of the time.
.
Unites States, that is bull@!$%# and you know it, stop spreading more lies. You are as bad as any tea party person.
Tracy-2712120, sorry if the truth bothers you.
.
United states is just a troll.
GHWBush wasn't so much a personal friend of Usama bin Laden. He was more friendly with his father and Salem, Usama's brother. They were together in DC on 9/11/2001 having a Carlyle group meeting.
TRACY: Why do you rush to be the first one to wish GHW Bush a get well every time their is a GHW Bush update? Do you actually think any Bush visits MSNBC? Talk about a TROLL.
"You mean like Bush Sr., who was a personal friend of Osama bin-Laden?"
Or do you mean like FDR, who was a personal friend of Joseph Stalin? If Stalin and Winston Churchill got into an argument, FDR would always take the side of Joseph Stalin. One of the so-called best Democrats of all time was friends with a mass murder...
That's a shame, the world needs one less Bush.
I disagree with his politics and policies but I wish him and his family well and hope he recovers for the holidays.
If you knew anything about the clandestine history of the Bush Klan, you wouldn't be wishing any of them well.
Wow..some of you truly are what's wrong with the world today. Wishing that he dies....What wonderful people you are. And you say the Right is full of hate. Look in the mirror.
Couldn't have said it better myself Rob!
Ditto
The "Right" is full of unjustified hate motivated by unregulated GREED and barely hidden Racism. Can you really blame the left for disliking them? Demanding trials and investigations for crimes and dereliction of duty doesn't sound like "hate" to me, it sounds like American DUE PROCESS.
LOL Paul, the left is just as full of open racism, hypocrisy and bigotry as you project on anyone else. You project your own issues on others and try to call yourself some saintly figure when you are simply some hate filled, nasty little hobbit that creates this illusion of being wronged. Get off your a$$ and make the world better and stop demanding that everyone else do it for you!
USA-Pigtory-ToastedRebel - you people are examples of the worst mentality-types in this nation. Open your friggin mouths when YOU get shot down defending this country in a war, or when YOU become President, or when YOU have to balance the freedoms of this nation against the rights of thoses who would destroy them. I wish you all the same that you wish ANY President, current or former of the USA. Friggin moronic slugs!
Freedom of speech and expression means that there is no requirement that you have served in the armed forces or the White House before you can find fault with those who have. That would be one of the "RIGHTS" the Taliban and al qaida supposedly would want to take away from us. Are you with us or with the Taliban, JP-345944?
GHW Bush LIED about his not being in the CIA, in order to become the director of the CIA, so that he cut stop the CIA's co-operation with the Church committee's investigation into the misdeed of the CIA.
When O'Reilly and Miller made the proclamation this morning I was flabbergasted. But now seeing the comments here about an old man that served his country with honor and distinction in the winter of his life fighting illness and suffering...I have to agree. We are in a civil war. There is an evil vileness at work here beyond the limits of human intellect and emotion and with it there seems to be no conscience or shame. This man was also my Commander In Chief once-he gave we Viet Nam Vets that were still young enough to serve our dignity and honor back by allowing us to liberate another country from the threat of tyranny. Bless you and your family Mr. President (Bush) this Christmas. God help us all.
Kuwait? Yellow-cake-from-Niger Please!!!!!!!!
The man LIED about being in the CIA when the CIA killed JFK. You were dumb enough to go to Nam and then stayed in the armed forces long after? You're a sheeple and a tool.
We disrespect you because you bury your head in the sand and only raise it to yell about the lack of a need to investigate the LIES you fell for, but we didn't.
I am with the democrat party but have taken the oath of constitution several times we need to be more respectful of others, a society works better, personal attacks do not work , Iwish the family well, GODS speed on a full recovery and MERRY CHRISTMAS .
I may not like your politics President H.W. Bush but get well soon. I wish you all the best.
God bless you, President Bush.
LUCIFER awaits. But as a Skull and Bones Luciferian, you already knew that Herbert.
How many lives has the despicable, war profiteering, elitist Bush family ruined all around the world? His son presided over the biggest domestic disaster since the Great Depression. Good riddance when they go.
All of you trolls out there need to go play on the freeway! Get well soon Mr Bush!