President's 'Feeling Good'

Military and civilian doctors Tuesday declared President Bush in "extraordinary health" after an annual physical examination showed his heart and lung capacity in the top 1 percent for men his age.

"Feeling good," Mr. Bush, 56, said as he returned to the White House from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., after three hours with doctors there. He then left for his Crawford, Texas, ranch until around Labor Day.

The president was accompanied to the physical, his first regular checkup since last August, by White House physician Richard Tubb. Even beforehand, the avid runner and fitness buff said he felt "tip top."

Mr. Bush's heart rate is a remarkably low 44 beats per minute, according to a White House report on the battery of tests done Tuesday morning.

His blood pressure is 106/70 and he has had no recurrence of skin growths or polyps and no repeat of the fainting spell that affected him earlier this year, it said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Mr. Bush's doctors pronounced "the president is in extraordinary health." McClellan said Mr. Bush's cardiovascular data is so good "the president is easily within the top 1 percent for men his age."

Mr. Bush is so committed to the benefits of exercise that he devoted the better part of four days in June to fitness activities. They included a festival on the White House lawn and a race against his staff — all part of an effort to get Americans to work out and live healthier lives. He'll even grace the cover of the October issue of Runner's World.

The president's last physical found him in outstanding health.

He did have three small skin lesions removed from his face that doctors said could lead to cancer if left untreated. Four more lesions were taken off in December; two of those, on his cheeks, were of the precancerous actinic kind.

None was cancerous.

The president's doctor also checked him over in January after a fainting spell brought on by swallowing a pretzel.

Medical experts said his good physical condition may have contributed to that incident. Some say his type of fainting may be more likely in people whose heart rates and blood pressure already are low.

In June, the president had a colon screening that showed no danger signs. As a result, he does not have to undergo another colonoscopy for five years.

Doctors had recommended the procedure for the president because a total of four benign polyps were found in two previous checks, in 1998 and 1999. It is also considered a standard preventive procedure for men his age and aides said the president wanted to encourage others to get tested.

On Tuesday, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, who escorted Mr. Bush out of the medical center, flashed a double thumbs-up. "Unbelievable," he said to reporters waiting outside during the checkup.