How Jenna Bush Hager's White House Life Complicated Her Relationship

Everyone dreams of living in the White House, especially since it's reported that the historical building houses immaculate spaces, including a game room and a chocolate shop. However, for one former White House resident, the quirks of this presidential palace were a relationship nightmare. You might know Jenna Bush Hager best for co-hosting the fourth hour of NBC's "Today" show with Hoda Kotb, who left the show in 2025. However, she first caught the public's attention when her father, George W. Bush, began his presidency in 2001. By the end of his first term, Jenna ignited a relationship with Henry Hager, her now-husband, who worked on her father's reelection campaign.

After mutual friends set them up, their courtship wasn't as effortless as Jenna hoped. In a 2021 "Today" show segment, the journalist told Kotb her biggest first date failure was with Hager, thanks to presidential protocol. "My worst first date involved the Secret Service, let's just leave it at that," she coyly revealed before explaining what happened. "It was with Henry and his car ran out of gas and went backwards and hit the Secret Service."

Henry's embarrassment persisted when the Bush campaign staffer later found himself in the White House after a long night of drinking. "Henry said he woke up and he looked around and he was, like, 'Aaaah!'" Jenna said in a 2021 "Today" show clip. Henry tried to play it cool as he hurriedly shuffled to the exit; Jenna continued, "He said to get out of the White House was as hard to get in. Usually, people don't run out."

With all Jenna Bush Hager and Henry Hager's relationship tribulations, it's exceptionally mind-blowing that the couple made it out of the White House and down the aisle at Jenna's family's Texas ranch in 2008. According to the morning show host, she heard the wedding bells early on—so much so that she proposed to Henry after three months of dating him. "I might've had a Christmas cocktail, and we were dancing, and I said, 'This is it, I know it, let's just get married, what are we waiting for?'" she revealed on "Today" in 2020. According to Jenna, Henry didn't match her hasty attitude. "He smiled, and he was like, 'I'm crazy about you, but you're young,'" said Jenna.

Over a decade later and Henry and Jenna are still going strong, despite divorce rumors. While interviewing Kelsea Ballerini on a January 2025 episode of "Today with Jenna & Friends," Jenna revealed her "biggest secret" for a successful marriage. "Part of it is choosing the right person because they make you feel—they're supportive, but they also make you feel like you're doing what you're supposed to be doing because then you can do it well," she said.