Former US president George H.W. Bush, 90, has been admitted to a Houston hospital suffering shortness of breath, a family spokesman said.

"President Bush was taken by ambulance to the Houston Methodist Hospital as a precaution after experiencing a shortness of breath earlier this evening," his spokesman Jim McGrath said.

"The former president will be held for observation, again as a precaution."

Bush, the 41st US president and the oldest of the four living former US presidents, has seemed frail in recent public appearances, and is often seen in a wheelchair.

He was well enough, however, to celebrate his 90th birthday in June by making an assisted parachute jump out of a helicopter near his family retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine.

That tandem sky-dive was Bush's eighth jump, with the first on Sept 2, 1944 - when he was shot down over the Pacific island Chi Chi Jima as a pilot in World War II.

Bush was previously treated at Houston Methodist in November 2012 for bronchitis, and ended up spending nearly two months as a patient there.

Political dynasty

Bush, a moderate Republican, was in the White House from 1989 to 1993 and sent US forces into Iraq in the first Gulf war after Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait.

The Massachusetts-born son of a senator is the patriarch of one of the most prominent political dynasties in the US.

Before being elected president, he served two terms as vice-president to Republican icon Ronald Reagan.

During his long and varied career in public service, Bush also served as a US congressman, UN ambassador, US liaison to China and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The decorated World War II aviator, who has earned widespread praise for his Points of Light volunteer program, made a fortune as a Texas oilman.

Bush is father to six children, including his eldest, the 43rd US president, George W. Bush.

Another son, Jeb, announced last week that he was laying the foundation for a 2016 White House bid.

AFP - AP

(China Daily 12/25/2014 page11)