President Clinton was breathing on his own and drinking liquids yesterday, and doctors said he was “resting comfortably” and doing “fine” after his quadruple bypass surgery.

Mr. Clinton was still in intensive care, but, according to a statement from his office, “He is awake and alert and talking with his family.”

Doctors removed his respirator late Monday, just hours after the four-hour bypass procedure was completed.

“Everything is going very well,” a member of the Clinton surgical team, Dr. Robert Kelly, said on the “Today Show” yesterday. “That being said, the president has had major, major surgery and it’s a significant recuperation that he’s about to undergo.”

Doctors say Mr. Clinton will require at least eight weeks to make a full recovery, a span that covers the bulk of the remaining election season. Mr. Clinton was expected to be an important campaigner in Senator Kerry’s bid to become president. Instead he met with Mr. Kerry for an hour before going into surgery, a conference that inspired Mr. Kerry to hire several former Clinton operatives onto his campaign staff, notably former Clinton campaign chief James Carville and pollster Stanley Greenberg.

Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Clinton, took a few days off to be with him at the hospital.

“These past few days have been quite an emotional roller-coaster for us,” she said in a statement. “The president’s optimism and faith will carry him through the difficult weeks and months ahead – of that we have no doubt.”

Chest pains and shortness of breath forced Mr. Clinton to the hospital, and doctors said his arteries were in bad shape. Two of them were 90% blocked. Though Mr. Clinton achieved fame for his regular jogs while governor of Arkansas and as president, he also was notorious for spontaneous trips to Mc-Donald’s and meals with mountains of barbecued ribs or other fatty meats.

“This guy was within a cat’s whisker of death. There’s no question in my mind,” a University of Pennsylvania cardiologist and a spokesman for the American Heart Association, Dr. Donald LaVan, told the Associated Press.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, taking 500,000 lives every year.

More than 60,000 well-wishers have e-mailed the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark., according to the Associated Press.

“You are surrounded by cherished family, friends and a nation that adores you and prays for your full and complete recovery,” wrote Toni Maryanna Rossi. “You’ll be jogging 5 miles a day in no time.”

The team of surgeons operating on Clinton was led by Dr. Craig Smith, the hospital’s chief of cardiothoracic surgery, who, according to the Associated Press, donated $2,000 to President Bush’s re-election campaign this year.