Ex-President George H.W. Bush Moved to Intensive Care Unit

Former President George H.W. Bush has been moved to the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital after suffering "a series of setbacks," including an ongoing fever, The Associated Press reports.

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Bush's spokesman, Jim McGrath, told the AP in an email Wednesday that Bush, 88, had been admitted Sunday to the ICU at Methodist Hospital. McGrath noted that the former President was alert and talking to medical staff. Doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment and Bush "remains in guarded condition," McGrath said, adding that Bush was surrounded by family members.

Bush, who is the oldest living former U.S. president, has been hospitalized since Nov. 23 when he was admitted for a cough related to bronchitis. Prior to his stay, Bush had been in and out for the hospital for complications related to the illness. Doctors put him on a liquids-only diet Wednesday following "a series of setbacks" and a worsening fever.
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Bush was visited on Christmas by his wife, Barbara, his son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria and a grandson. He has also been visited twice by his sons, former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Bush and his wife live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers in Maine.