George H.W. Bush Fell, Broke Neck Bone Wednesday; 41st President Hospitalized But In Stable Condition: Spokesman

Update as of 7:00 a.m. EDT: George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized at Maine Medical Center after suffering a fractured neck following a fall at his home in Kennebunkport, his spokesman Jim McGrath wrote on his Twitter account early Thursday.

Jenna Bush Hager, the granddaughter of the 91-year-old, also wrote on Twitter.

Original story:

Former President George H.W. Bush fell and broke a bone in his neck on Wednesday morning, a spokesman for Bush told CNN. Bush was at home in Kennebunkport, Maine, when he fell.

The injury “was not life threatening,” Jim McGrath, a Bush spokesman, told CNN. He later indicated that the 41st president was not at any point disoriented and was expected to leave the hospital quickly. “We are not expecting a long stay,” McGrath said.

A tweet from the spokesman indicated that Bush would need to wear a neck brace and that his condition was stable.

Bush turned 91 in June and is the oldest living president. He is 111 days older than former President Jimmy Carter, who was president two terms before him. Bush’s predecessor in the White House, Ronald Reagan, died in 2004 at the age of 93, making him the longest-living president in history.

Bush served one term as president, from 1989 to 1993, when Bill Clinton beat him to take the Oval Office. Before becoming president, he served as Reagan's vice president and held a string of administrative positions for other Republicans. He first came to Washington as a U.S. congressman from Texas.

Bush discussed in 2012 that he had been diagnosed with vascular parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson’s disease, which has forced him to stay in a motorized wheelchair. In 2013, Bush was hospitalized with a bronchitis-like cough that eventually landed him in intensive care. At the end of 2014 he was hospitalized with shortness of breath.

Bush, whose father was Sen. Prescott Bush of Connecticut, is the patriarch of a well-known American political family. Eight years after he lost his bid for re-election, his oldest son, George W. Bush, beat out former Vice President Al Gore to become the 42nd president of the United States. The younger George Bush served two terms. George H.W. Bush’s youngest son, Jeb Bush, is currently running for president and is considered to be one of the leading candidates in a heavily crowded Republican field. The senior Bush did not attend Jeb Bush's campaign announcement rally in Miami.