The 41st president of the United States George HW Bush is in stable condition and has been removed from a breathing tube, a spokesperson said that on Friday as the 92-year-old recovers from pneumonia in a Houston hospital.
“He was extubated this morning, and is breathing well on his own with minimal supplemental oxygen,’’ spokesperson Jim McGrath said in a statement.
“President Bush is comfortable and watching inauguration coverage together with Mrs Bush, their son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria.’’
Bush’s wife, Barbara Bush, 91, was also admitted Wednesday to the same Houston Methodist Hospital due to fatigue and coughing.
The breathing tube was inserted to treat an acute respiratory problem.
Bush was vice president from 1981-89 under president Ronald Reagan, and was elected as his successor, serving as president from 1989-93, but lost his 1992 re-election bid to Bill Clinton (1993-2001).
The Bushes are the parents of later U.S. president George W Bush (2001-09).
The elder Bush has been in declining health for several years and was hospitalised for several weeks in 2012.