George H.W. Bush in ICU

[jimmy olsen]

He's been in the hospital for a month, and at his age that seems a sure sign the end is near. A great patriot and an underrated president. 

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ex-President-Bush-in-guarded-condition-in-ICU-4147280.php

Bush 41 in 'guarded condition' in ICU
By Erin Mulvaney | December 26, 2012 | Updated: December 26, 2012 8:53pm

Former President George H.W. Bush was in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital Wednesday night after battling a persistent fever all week, his spokesman said.

The 41st president has been at Methodist Hospital for more than a month now.

Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said the 88-year-old's fever rose on Wednesday, but doctors at Methodist Hospital report he is doing better than the day before. He was admitted to the ICU on Sunday and since has been on an all-liquid diet.

"He is considered in guarded condition," McGrath said. "He has suffered a series of setbacks." The fever is being treated with Tylenol, but it's not responding to the treatment.

McGrath was not sure what caused the fever.

McGrath said Bush is alert, having a "running banter'' with his nurses and is surrounded by family. "His doctors have said emphatically this is not the end game," McGrath said.

Bush has had various health problems in recent years.

In February, it was reported that he had been diagnosed with lower body Parkinsonism, a condition that causes instability from the waist down. As a result, he mostly uses a wheelchair.

On Nov. 7, he was admitted to the hospital for a lingering bronchitis-like cough and was discharged Nov. 19. He was then readmitted the day after Thanksgiving, when the cough wouldn't go away. He has been in the hospital since.

Bush spent Christmas Day in the hospital with his wife, Barbara, and several family members who live in Houston. The family ordered food from Gigi's Asian Bistro in the Galleria, where they traditionally eat on Christmas Day. The president was unable to partake because of his all-liquid diet, McGrath said.

Two sons — former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — have visited him during his hospital stay and are planning to visit again soon.

Bush and his wife reside in Houston during the winter and spend their summers in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Bush was born in Milton, Mass., on June 12, 1924. His father, Prescott Sheldon Bush, was an investment banker who later became a Republican senator from Connecticut, serving from 1952 to 1963. His mother, Dorothy Walker Bush, came from a St. Louis investment banking family.

Bush enlisted in the Navy when he was 18 and was a naval aviator in World War II. At 24, he and his wife, Barbara, moved to Texas.

The oldest living former president, Bush, is also a former vice president, congressman and CIA director. He served as president from 1989 to 1993.

He achieved notoriety in retirement for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House.

[HVC]

with the candle stick?

[Caliga]

an underrated president. 

Agree.  Get well, Poppy.

[merithyn]

He's lived a very long, very full life and he's done amazing things. I hope that he gets better, but if he doesn't, he's earned his rest.

[DGuller]

  If you don't pray for him, you're not patriotic.

[OttoVonBismarck]

The last true Republican President, I remember thinking he was adequate at the time but as a traditional Republican in a world that has been ravaged by the Tea Party, Religious Right, and the Neocons I've come to have an immense amount of respect to the balanced approach he took to governing, his skill at foreign relations, and his willingness to do what he thought was best for the country regardless of the political ramifications or the wailing of extremists in his own party.

[derspiess]

He wasn't looking all that well in his recorded interview shown during the convention.  Hope he can pull through but yeah, if he doesn't he's certainly earned his rest.

[Caliga]

The last true Republican President, I remember thinking he was adequate at the time but as a traditional Republican in a world that has been ravaged by the Tea Party, Religious Right, and the Neocons I've come to have an immense amount of respect to the balanced approach he took to governing, his skill at foreign relations, and his willingness to do what he thought was best for the country regardless of the political ramifications or the wailing of extremists in his own party.

I agree with the above. 

[Admiral Yi]

I've always thought he was a good president.

A bit on the weenie side, but nature gave him that voice, he didn't choose it.

[sbr]

I hope he makes it through the week.  He was my first round pick in the 2013 Dead Pool and I can't afford to lose him before it starts.

[CountDeMoney]

I wonder if he's checking his watch now.

[DGuller]

I wonder if he's checking his watch now.

  Seedy, you're so terrible.  Please don't change.

[Sheilbh]

I can't think of a wiser or more competent foreign policy President - at all.

[CountDeMoney]

I can't think of a wiser or more competent foreign policy President - at all.

I dunno, mixed bag: he played the Soviets and the coup very well, and GW1 was a masterpiece in collective security action, but his response to Tiananmen Square left a lot to be desired, as was his response to the Balkans early in the crisis.  Lame duck deployment of troops to Somalia less than a month before his term ended wasnt exactly the best policy decision to leave an incoming President with, either.

First President I ever voted for; didnt realize at the time it would be for the last of the real, traditional Republicans.

[Admiral Yi]

I dunno, mixed bag: he played the Soviets and the coup very well, and GW1 was a masterpiece in collective security action, but his response to Tiananmen Square left a lot to be desired, as was his response to the Balkans early in the crisis.

Please elaborate.