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George H.W. Bush Moved To Intensive Care Unit

HOUSTON (CBSMiami/AP) - Former President George H.W. Bush has seen his condition worsen in a Houston, Texas hospital, his spokesman said Wednesday. Jim McGrath said the former president's fever has progressively gotten worse over the last two days and called the fever, "stubborn."

According to McGrath, doctors have placed the 88-year-old former president on a liquids-only diet as they try to get to the bottom of the fever. Doctors are running tests and treating the fever with Tylenol, McGrath said.

Bush was initially brought to the hospital last month with a bronchitis-like cold, but that condition has reportedly improved.

Bush was visited on Christmas by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, will arrive Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Md. The 41st president has also been visited twice by his sons, George W. Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.

Bush and his wife live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at a home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The former president was a naval aviator in World War II — at one point the youngest in the Navy — and was shot down over the Pacific. He achieved notoriety in retirement for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House in 1992.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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