Everlasting love: George H.W. Bush wishes wife Barbara a happy 70th wedding anniversary one week after being released from hospital

• Former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara are the longest-wed presidential couple
• Married on January 6, 1945 after Bush returned from fighting in WWII
• He Tweeted Tuesday that Barbara had 'made me the happiest and luckiest man on earth'
• The 90-year-old left Houston's Methodist Hospital last week
• He was treated for shortness of breath for seven days, including Christmas

By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press Reporter

Published: 01:03 EST, 7 January 2015 | Updated: 01:45 EST, 7 January 2015

They are the longest-wed presidential couple and on Tuesday former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara celebrated their milestone 70th wedding anniversary.

The 90-year-old - who was released from a Houston hospital one week ago after being treated for shortness of breath - excitedly tweeted a message to the former first lady about the time they have spent together.

The couple were married on January 6, 1945, just weeks after Bush returned from serving in World War II.

'Seventy years ago this very day, Barbara Pierce of Rye, NY made me the happiest, and luckiest, man on earth,' Bush tweeted.

Together forever: George H.W. Bush, 90, sent out a loving anniversary message to his wife, Barbara Bush, Tuesday, to commemorate their milestone 70th wedding anniversary, along with this photo

The big day: Navy Lieutenant George Bush and Barbara Pierce were married in the First Prsbyterian Church in Rye, New York on January 6, 1945

Celebrating: The pair - are the longest-wed presidential couple - went on to have six children

The couple - who in 2000 surpassed the 54-year record set by John and Abigail Adams as the longest-wed presidential couple - first met at a Christmas dance in Andover, Massachusetts.

Bush was only 16-years-old at the time, Fox News reported.

He proposed 18 months later before leaving to fight in World War II as a pilot in the navy.

Bush was sent home from the war in September 1944 after being shot down and nearly killed during a mission over the Pacific and four months later they were married.

Bush was 20 and Barbara was 19.

The pair would go on to have six children - one of whom died from leukemia as a toddler - including future President George W. Bush.

Bush, the oldest living former U.S. president, was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital last month for what was described then as a precaution after experiencing shortness of breath. His hospital stay included Christmas.

Former President George H.W. Bush was released from a Houston hospital last week after a weeklong stay for treatment of shortness of breath

The former president also spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care at the same hospital while being treated for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues. He was discharged in January 2013 after a nearly two-month stay.

He was released from the recent stay on December 30.

Bush made had made two public appearances in November.

He was at Texas A&M University where his son, former President George W. Bush, talked about his book about his father.

He also served as the coin-toss captain for the Houston Texans during a Nov. 23 game that honored the U.S. Armed Forces.

Bush served two terms as Ronald Reagan's vice president before being elected the nation's 41st president in 1988.

After one term, highlighted by the success of the 1991 Gulf War in Kuwait, he lost to Democrat Bill Clinton amid voters' concerns about the economy.

His son eldest son, George, went on to succeed Clinton in office, serving two consecutive terms as president from 2000 to early 2008.

His second son, Jeb, is mulling a bid for the presidency himself, announcing a few days before his father's hospitalization that he would 'actively explore' the possibility.

Bush has skydived on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House. In June, he celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. During the winter, Bush and his wife, Barbara, live in Houston, Texas.

Bush, also a former U.S. ambassador to China and CIA director, has a form of Parkinson's disease that has forced him in recent years to use a motorized scooter or wheelchair for mobility.

On Monday his spokesman said his breathing had 'returned to normal' but he would remain in a hospital for at least another night pending approval from doctors for him to return to his Houston home.

The former president and first lady Barbara Bush want to 'thank everyone for their good wishes and prayers,' McGrath said Monday.