Former U.S. President H.W. Bush spends 3rd night in hospital

USPA News - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has spent a third night at a Houston hospital after experiencing shortness of breath earlier this week, but his spokesman said the former leader is doing well and spent Christmas Day with his wife and some of his relatives. Family spokesman Jim McGrath said Bush, 90, was visited by his wife Barbara as well as his son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria on Christmas Day.

"President Bush had another terrific day and is in great spirits," McGrath said in an emailed statement on late Thursday. "[He] has received well wishes from family, friends and fellow citizens." McGrath added: "He asked that his sincere wishes for a very Merry Christmas be extended to one and all." Bush was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital on Tuesday evening after experiencing shortness of breath, but specific details about his health problems have not been released. McGrath said in a previous statement on Wednesday night that the former president`s prognosis "remains positive." Bush is the oldest living former American president who was in office from January 1989 until January 1993. He also served two terms as vice president in Ronald Reagan`s administration from 1981 until 1989, and he is further the father of former President George W. Bush, who was in office from 2001 until 2009. Bush has been dealing with a number of health problems in recent years, including a form of Parkinson`s disease that has forced him to use a wheelchair. He made news in June when he marked his 90th birthday with a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in coastal Maine.