Senior Bush endorses McCain's presidential bid

Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush has backed front-runner John McCain in his bid to become the Republican party's presidential candidate.

Speaking in Houston, Texas, with McCain at his side, Bush said he believes McCain is the candidate best prepared to lead the country in the future.

The father of the current U.S. president described the Arizona senator as someone whose character has been "forged in the crucible of war."

McCain, a former navy pilot and Vietnam veteran, is widely expected to win the Republican nomination.

He received a major boost when Mitt Romney dropped out of the race and officially endorsed McCain, urging his delegates to vote for him in the party's summer's convention.

According to an Associated Press tally, McCain has secured 903 of the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the party's nomination. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is trailing with 245 delegates.