WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney was hospitalized Monday after experiencing chest pains, an aide said. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole also has been hospitalized, after a bout with pneumonia.
Aide Peter Long said Cheney, 69, was resting comfortably, and his doctors were evaluating the situation. Cheney has a history of heart problems and has a pacemaker. He has had four heart attacks, starting when he was 37, and has had quadruple bypass surgery and two artery-clearing angioplasties.
Meanwhile, Dole is recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, his spokesman said Monday.
Dole, 86, was admitted about three weeks ago with a respiratory condition, spokesman Michael Marshall said. Dole soon recovered but has remained in the hospital to undergo physical therapy for knee surgery he underwent late last year.
Dole overcame disabling war wounds to forge a 36-year political career. A Republican, he retired from the Senate in 1996 to run against President Bill Clinton. Dole is now a special counsel in the law firm of Alston and Bird. The Associated Press
