The Bush Twins Live Very Different Lives

Fraternal twin sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush Coyne grew up together in the public eye — first as the young granddaughters of former President George H.W. Bush in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then as the daughters of former President George W. Bush in the early 2000s. The twins were in college during their father's presidency, which thrust them into a life of public scrutiny. During those days, the sisters (more often Jenna) had their college underage drinking exploits plastered all over the tabloids. It couldn't have been easy being a regular college student and having your every move watched!

In the years since, both sisters have grown up, built impressive careers for themselves, gotten married, and started families of their own. These days, it's clear the two are just as close as ever, even teaming up several times to write books — first, for their 2017 memoir "Sisters First," then for their children's books, "2019's "Sisters First" and 2022's "The Superpower Sisterhood."

While the two, in some ways, share much in common, in other ways, they are quite different, having lived very different lives.

Jenna Bush Hager's twin sister, Barbara Bush Coyne, experienced a very different path to marriage and motherhood. Barbara did not find her forever person until November 2017 when mutual friends set her up with screenwriter and actor Craig Coyne. The two managed to keep their romance quiet until their secret October 2018 wedding (which soon became not-so-secret) at her family's oceanside compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Six months later, the newlyweds celebrated again with a larger, more traditional-style wedding in Texas. Jenna served as Barbara's matron of honor, and Jenna's two daughters were the flower girls. In September 2021, the couple announced the birth of their first child, a baby girl named Cora Georgia Coyne.

On Hoda Kotb's podcast, "Making Space" (via People), Jenna opened up about the sisters' very different paths. "We had a really shared history because we were the same age. So it's interesting how adulthood happens and how I just met Henry and that she didn't meet somebody," she said, explaining that Barbara did have many boyfriends over the years but no relationships that led to marriage.

Jenna added how it was "disheartening" and "painful" when her sister would be asked over the years why she hadn't yet married and had children. She also shared that Barbara had discussed with their grandmother her plans to freeze her eggs and have a baby on her own if she didn't meet someone soon. 

Instead of staying close to home, Barbara Bush Coyne attended Yale, becoming the fourth generation in her family to attend the Ivy League university. She even lived in Davenport College, the same residential college as her famous dad. Of her decision, Pamela Nelson, former art instructor to the twins, was quoted in "Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady" as saying, "I think [Barbara] went to Yale for the adventure. Her father and her grandfather went there." And adventures she had, including one random road trip she took to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, without the Secret Service knowing.

A design lover, Barbara studied architecture and obtained an internship with the designer fashion label Proenza Schouler before discovering an interest in a humanities and nonprofit career and subsequently switching her major from architecture to humanities (more on why soon). Like her mother and sister, Barbara joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and was supposedly a member of Skull and Bones, a secret society for Yale seniors, like her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Barbara was intent on being a regular college student at the 5,000-student, liberal-leaning campus, though it wasn't always easy. She enrolled in the fall of 2000, during her father's tense presidential re-election campaign and highly disputed election. Of Barbara, former classmate Sabrina Sedique told the Plainview Herald in 2004, "She seems like a lovely person. She's very down to earth — a very grounded and well-rounded person."

Barbara Bush Coyne has a very different career than she intended. She developed a love of making clothing at age 12 after getting a sewing machine for her birthday. This inspired her to pursue a career in design. However, she became interested in nonprofit work and subsequently switched her major from architecture to humanities upon returning from a trip to Africa with her parents where they launched the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

For Barbara, the trip was life-changing. "Seeing literally like thousands of people lining the street waiting for drugs that they needed to live, that we had in the United States, was something that was very hard for me to wrap my brain around. The lack of justice in that," she told Elle in 2013. "I was much more intrigued thinking about these issues and figuring out ways that you can make sure that that's not the norm ... I did believe that you can change so much in the world."

After graduation, she worked with pediatric AIDS patients in Europe and Africa through a program sponsored by the Baylor College of Medicine's International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative. In 2009, Barbara co-founded Global Health Corps (GHC) with her sister, Jenna Bush Hager, and served as president and CEO. She led GHC's fellows program, providing fellowships to individuals interested in performing public health work in America and overseas, before announcing her decision in 2018 to transition to board chair.

Of the two Bush sisters, Jenna Bush Hager was always known as the more playful, outgoing one who lived her life more in the public eye, especially since becoming a broadcast journalist and landing a highly-coveted spot as the co-host of the fourth hour of "Today." She also loves sharing various aspects of her life on social media. Because of her job, however, she must be more private when it comes to her political views, something she has shared in the past.

Both she and her sister, Barbara Bush Coyne, never had any interest in pursuing a political career, despite the opinion of their grandfather, the late former President George H.W. Bush. "Never," Jenna once told People. Regardless, her grandfather was still proud. "When we see them, they're kidding and joking," he told the magazine, "but they're very serious girls in what they're doing."

Despite this lack of interest in pursuing politics as a career, Jenna told People, "We're both very independent thinkers" after Barbara explained to the magazine that neither sister is affiliated with any specific political party. For a 2013 profile on her sister with Elle, Jenna explained, "Our parents raised us to be open-minded. Barbara and I both are not interested in traditional American politics, ironically, since we come from a political family. We're interested more in policy."