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<p>HOUSTON (AP) — A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital.</p> <p>Bush's spokesman, Jim McGrath, said late Wednesday that the former president was admitted to the ICU on Sunday at Methodist Hospital, "following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever."</p>

Former President George H.W. Bush is in the hospital, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday. Bush, 88, is at Houston’s Methodist Hospital receiving treatment for a “chronic cough,” his chief of staff, Jean Becker, told the Chronicle.

Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush said on Thursday that she's ready to move beyond this year's campaign season, in comments that came at an Austin conference the week after President Barack Obama's re-election. "I'm tired now of the elections," Bush, who had endorsed Republican Mitt Romney, said at a forum on America's first ladies. "People spoke. Move on, get on with it. I want to do other things and not to be ugly." Bush, sporting a double strand of her signature pearls, joined former first lady Laura Bush on a panel for the Enduring Legacies of America's First Ladies...

SEALY, TX (KTRK) -- BAE Systems has agreed to pay a former employee at its Sealy facility who says he was fired for being fat. We first talked to Ronald Kratz last fall, when the government sued BAE on his behalf. He says he couldn't believe what he was hearing when he was let go. "The HR representative's exact words were 'We're letting you go because of your weight.'

-snip- Thoughts on the “no new tax” pledge from Grover Norquist. PARADE: During your presidency you gave in on your “no new taxes” pledge. You’ve been vindicated in many respects for that decision. I wonder how you view the “no new tax” pledge from Grover Norquist that seems to be requisite for GOP political candidates. GB: The rigidity of those pledges is something I don’t like. The circumstances change and you can’t be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It’s—who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway? BB: I think he ought to go back to Alaska. [laughs] Don’t quote...

In an interview with Charlie Rose on "CBS This Morning," former Florida governor Jeb Bush revealed that his father, George H.W. Bush can no longer walk unassisted. Jeb Bush said his father, 87, is still good mentally, but "he can't walk... He has to, you know, he's help by a stroller... That's hard for a guy that's been so vital and vigorous in life." [Related: George W. Bush's favorable ratings lowest of any living president] Indeed, there are few senior citizens as vital as George H. W. Bush. For many years, on his birthday, the 41st president made it his...

Who would have thought it? Given the flack the Chevy Volt has received at Republican hands over the last few months, former Republican president George H. W. Bush dealt the Volt attackers a serious blow, deciding to purchase one of GM’s extended range electric cars. The Volt, which has become a symbol of all that’s wrong with the Obama administration according to a number of conservatives, might finally be getting a break. In addition to Bush Sr.’s purchase of a Volt (for his son Neil), there’s growing sentiment among the right that the car might not be that bad after...

In His Debut In Washington’s Power Struggles, Gingrich Threw A Bomb Bob Woodward December 24 On the evening of Oct. 4, 1990, Newt Gingrich and his then-wife, Marianne, were enjoying a VIP reception at a Republican fundraiser when they were suddenly hustled over to have their picture taken with President George H.W. Bush. “I thought it was a bad idea,” Gingrich said in a series of interviews in 1992 that have not been previously published. Days earlier, Gingrich had dramatically walked out of the White House and was leading a very public rebellion against a deficit reduction and tax increase...

Former president George H. W. Bush offered an informal endorsement of Mitt Romney in remarks published Thursday, saying that Mr. Romney “is the best choice for us.” The former president told reporters for The Houston Chronicle that he supported Mr. Romney because of his “stability, experience, principles. He’s a fine person,” Mr. Bush, 87, said. “I just think he’s mature and reasonable – not a bomb-thrower.” The paper reported the comments, made this week, on its Web site Thursday afternoon. A spokesman for Mr. Bush confirmed the accuracy of the comments and said they fully reflect the views of the...

Choosing his words carefully, the former president said he knew Gingrich relatively well. “I’m not his biggest advocate,” he said. “I had a conflict with him at one point,” Bush recalled, alluding to the crucial moment in 1990 when a recession drove him to renege on his “no new taxes” pledge. He needed a bipartisan group of party leaders, including then-House Whip Gingrich, to stand with him. “He was there, right outside the Oval Office. I met with all the Republican leaders, all the Democratic leaders,” Bush recalled. “The plan was, we were all going to walk out into the...

President Obama's slow ride down Gallup's daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history. Since March, Obama's job approval rating has hovered above Carter's, considered among the 20th century's worst presidents, but today Obama's punctured Carter's dismal job approval line. On their comparison chart, Gallup put Obama's job approval rating at 43 percent compared to Carter's 51 percent.

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked key provisions of Texas' new law requiring a doctor to perform a sonogram before an abortion, ruling the measure violates the free speech rights of both doctors and patients. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks upheld the requirement that sonograms be performed, but struck down the provisions requiring doctors to describe the images to their patients and requiring women to hear the descriptions. The law made exceptions for women who were willing to sign statements saying they were pregnant as a result of rape or incest or that their fetus had an irreversible abnormality. Sparks...

A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Alabama's new law cracking down on illegal immigration, ruling Monday that she needed more time to decide whether the law opposed by the Obama administration, church leaders and immigrant-rights groups is constitutional. The brief order by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn means the law won't take effect as scheduled on Thursday. The ruling was cheered by opponents who have compared the law to old Jim Crow-era statutes against racial integration. But Blackburn didn't address whether the law is constitutional, and she could still let all or parts of the law take effect...

~ EXCERPT ~ Friends and former colleagues say Lawrence S. Eagleburger, the only career foreign service officer to rise to the position of secretary of state, has died. Word of Eagleburger's death Saturday came from representatives of former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker. No other details were immediately available. Eagleburger, who was 80, was a straightforward diplomat whose exuberant style masked a hard-driving commitment to solving foreign policy problems.

U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's border, but in a million-dollar compound in an upscale suburb of Pakistan's capital, with his youngest wife, U.S. officials said early on Monday. They were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with...

Elder Bush brings team together 20 years after Gulf WarBy the CNN Wire Staff January 20, 2011 7:23 a.m. EST Baghdad (CNN) -- Former President George H.W. Bush is getting his old foreign policy team back together on the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War. The reunion is being held on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, where the Bush presidential library is located. A roundtable discussion by the Bush team is expected to include the 41st president, former vice presidents Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney, who was secretary of the defense at the time, and former secretaries...

Former President George H.W. Bush will endorse Republican Roger Williams this afternoon for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison now holds. The race to succeed Hutchison, who is not seeking re-election, has drawn interest from a number of Republicans, including railroad commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also considering a run. Roger Williams is a Weatherford car dealer and former Texas secretary of state who was a major Republican donor before he was a candidate. The Bush endorsement could give his campaign a nice boost, particularly since the field is crowded and...

President Obama has been compared to a lot of past presidents. In the first days of his administration, he was compared to great presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, as well as John F. Kennedy. These days, Mr. Obama is being compared to some other presidents. Sometimes, Mr. Obama is described as another Bill Clinton. After watching his Democrats take a pounding in the 1994 midterm election, Mr. Clinton pivoted to the center in 1995-96 in an effort to improve his own standing as his re-election drew near. (Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Clinton was perceived by some...

Short of a crown physically being placed on Mitt’s head, this is as close as we’re likely to get to an official coronation of him as the establishment choice in the primaries. I was giggling while watching it, trying to imagine his reaction as the most RINO-y president of modern times gives him a very public thumbs up, but actually this shouldn’t hurt much. The base is already lost to him thanks to RomneyCare, so the best he can hope for now is to consolidate his position among centrists/anti-Palinists. And the Bushes did him a major solid on that front:...

Here is video of former President George H.W. Bush being asked by Larry King what he thinks of the “Tea Party.” Bush 41 said he wasn’t sure what to think about it: “Well, I don’t know what it really is, Larry. Some of the ideas make a lot of sense. . . . I’m confused by it, frankly, but I think it’s alright.”