Doctors say Bush is in top health

Associated Press

CRAWFORD, Texas — More than a dozen doctors gave George Bush his first physical examination since he became president and pronounced him in outstanding health Saturday.

The president did have three sun-induced lesions removed from his face before being declared "fit for duty."

Bush endured a six-hour exam by 14 physicians before departing for his summer vacation in Texas.

"The president is in outstanding health and is fit for duty," the doctors said in a written statement released aboard Air Force One on Bush’s flight to his Texas ranch for a monthlong stay.

"All data suggest he will remain so for the duration of his presidency," the report said.

Bush’s only reported vice: an occasional cigar.

"I feel pretty good. I think you’ll find I’m in pretty good shape," Bush told reporters as he emerged, waving and smiling, from Bethesda Naval Hospital. He boarded a helicopter for Andrews Air Force Base, where his airplane waited.

Bush had three small lesions removed from his face at the hospital. The potentially cancer-causing skin lesions, a common condition known as actinic keratoses, are caused by exposure to the sun.

Bush weighs 189.7 pounds. He has lost weight since moving to the White House. He weighed 194.5 pounds last year when he was governor of Texas and had his last physical.

The president runs an average of three miles four times a week and cross-trains with swimming, free weights and an elliptical trainer.

Bush’s battery of tests included an MRI on his left knee that came back normal. Bush had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in 1997.

The exam found some symptoms of seasonal allergies. Bush, who sometimes wears reading glasses, was wearing sunglasses after his exam due to dilated pupils from the tests.

He seemed delighted as Air Force One landed at Fort Hood, Texas, under a brilliant sun. An electronic thermometer read 99 degrees.

Bush posed with Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and Armstrong’s family, who joined Bush on the flight from Washington, D.C. Armstrong was headed to a party in Austin, Texas.

During a visit to the White House on Friday, Armstrong presented Bush with a bicycle he has used competitively. "I tried to offer him some M&Ms," Armstrong said. "He turned me down."

Bush and first lady Laura Bush are vacationing at their remote ranch through Labor Day, with several outings planned — to Colorado, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Pennsylvania — to keep the president and his agenda in the public eye.