If U.S. President George W. Bush felt any angst about turning 60 on Thursday, he sure wasn't showing it.

U.S. President George W. Bush blows out the candles on his 60th birthday cake during a private dinner party at a restaurant in Chicago July 6, 2006. [Reuters]

"Let me just say this - it's a lot younger than you think," Bush said of hitting the milestone. An avid biker who quit drinking at 40, Bush prides himself on his physical fitness.

Born in 1946, Bush is a member of the huge postwar "baby boom" generation. His press secretary, Tony Snow, portrayed the birthday as just another day.

"He feels like it's one day after being 59," Snow said. "You know the president. It's not the sort of thing where he's sitting around somewhere looking at his watch and saying, oh man, I got an achy knee."

Although his birthday was on Thursday, Bush began celebrating at a Fourth of July dinner that included family and friends. He showed up in a red-and-white Hawaiian shirt.

As for gifts that were made public, Bush got a belt buckle from visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and cuff links from staff.

Later, in Chicago, Bush blew out the candles on a birthday cake at a dinner in a basement room at the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant. Among the all-male group was Democratic Mayor Richard Daley, local officials and senior White House aides.

"I've got a lot of birthday wishes," said Bush. "I hope our troops are safe, I hope Roger Ebert does well. I know a lot of people here in Chicago are pulling for him."

Ebert, a Chicago film critic with a nationwide following, had emergency cancer surgery recently.