The Slatest

Former President George H.W. Bush is still in intensive care at a Houston hospital but his condition continues to improve, according to a family spokesman cited by the Associated Press. "The President is alert and, as always, in good spirits," Jim McGrath said, “and his exchanges with doctors and nurses now include singing.”

The 88-year-old former president has been at Methodist Hospital in Houston since Nov. 23 due to a bronchitis-related cough. Although his cough has mostly been resolved, he was transferred to intensive care Sunday because doctors were having trouble controlling a fever. There has been lots of speculation about the health of the nation’s oldest living former president over the past few days, but on Thursday one of his aides said Bush would likely tell people to “put the harps back in the closet.”