Health of George H.W. Bush 'improving'

"The President is alert and, as always, in good spirits — and his exchanges with doctors and nurses now include singing," family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a brief statement.

The 88-year-old Bush, the nation's oldest living former president, was admitted at Methodist Hospital in Houston on Nov. 23 because of a bronchitis-related cough, after spending about a week there earlier in November for the same condition.

The cough was mostly resolved by the time he was moved to intensive care on Sunday for treatment of a fever that doctors were having difficulty controlling.

"The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes and, like their doctors, are cautiously optimistic that the current course of treatment will be effective," McGrath said.

On Thursday, a longtime Bush aide tried to quell concern about Bush's condition by saying the former president likely would advise well-wishers to "put the harps back in the closet."

Jean Becker, Bush's Houston chief of staff, said the former president would likely be in the hospital for a while, noting his age and that "he had a terrible case of bronchitis which then triggered a series of complications."

Becker said "most of the civilized world" contacted her after word spread that Bush had been placed in intensive care unit.

"Someday President George H.W. Bush might realize how beloved he is, but of course one of the reasons why he is so beloved is because he has no idea," Becker said in the at-times lighthearted statement that made multiple references to jokes and the former president's sense of humor.