Bush Returns to Oval Office After Surgery

Cheney era over after docs remove polyps from president
By Greg Atwan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2007 2:05 PM CDT
Bush Returns to Oval Office After Surgery
President Bush waves from Marine One as he departs the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, July 20, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)   (Associated Press)

George Bush resumed his duties as president today, two hours after voluntarily handing them over to VP Cheney while he underwent a colonoscopy. Bush is eager to get back to work, a White House spokesman said; Cheney spent his moment in the sun reading at home, and "nothing occurred that required him to take official action as acting president."

Doctors removed five small polyps from Bush, which they'll test for colorectal cancer. Bush's operation marked the third time a president has ever invoked the 25th Amendment and ducked out of the office temporarily—he did it once before in 2002, and president Reagan handed the reins to Bush's father in 1985 while he underwent colon cancer surgery. (More Dick Cheney stories.)

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