What Former First Daughters Are Up To Now

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Growing up in a famous family is not easy, and the former first daughters of the United States know it. While it might seem glamorous to have family dinners at the White House, it's not always comfortable to be trailed by Secret Service agents. Plus, constantly seeing your loved one's name — or even your name — in the papers can be emotional. For example, former President Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was the butt of the joke in a 1992 "Saturday Night Live" sketch when she was just 13. As Chelsea would later recall on an episode of "Gutsy" (via Newsweek), "When 'SNL' made fun of me, I was like, 'Wow. A group of adults sat in a room, all decided this was a good idea.' Nobody thought, like, 'Maybe we shouldn't make fun of children.'"

Despite the challenges of being raised in the spotlight, many American first daughters have managed to blaze their own trails and build successful careers of their own. Former President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, shone brightly in two separate ambassadorships under Democratic presidents. Former President Barack Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, meanwhile, have forged opportunities in La La Land. Although there are many different paths that a first daughter can take after her parent leaves the White House, almost every single one of them has opted for an interesting career in the public eye.

Former first lady Jackie Kennedy was never the same after JFK died, but neither was the late president's daughter, Caroline Kennedy. The world remembered her as the sorrowful little girl who trailed behind her father's coffin during his funeral procession. As she got older, however, Caroline decided to take control of her destiny and pursue a career in the political sphere. She developed a special interest in education, serving as the Chief Executive in the New York City Department of Education's Office of Strategic Partnerships in the early 2000s. She also served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama and the ambassador to Australia under former President Joe Biden.

Although Caroline Kennedy did not run for public office, she was known to speak out against the candidates that she didn't support. In 2025, when her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was nominated to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump, Caroline wrote a letter to U.S. senators, which was later published in the New York Times. In the piece, Caroline accused RFK Jr. of taking advantage of her father's assassination for personal political gain. "Unlike Bobby [RFK], I try not to speak for my father," she wrote, "but I am certain that he and my uncle Bobby, who gave their lives in public service, and my uncle Teddy, who devoted his Senate career to improving healthcare, would be disgusted."

Beyond her dedication to American diplomacy, education, and politics, Caroline Kennedy became a devoted family woman. She married Edwin Schlossberg in 1986, and the couple went on to welcome three children, Jack Schlossberg, Tatiana Schlossberg, and Rose Schlossberg. Unfortunately, however, one of the great tragedies of Caroline's life is that her daughter, Tatiana, died of cancer in 2025 when she was just 35 years old. While this news was devastating for Caroline, it was particularly difficult for Tatiana's children. Indeed, she was the mother of a 3-year-old boy, Edwin Moran, and a 1-year-old girl, Josephine Moran. Although the kids had to suffer the loss of their mother, they have seemingly been able to rely on their grandmother, Caroline, for moral and emotional support. 

"Caroline has to do the same thing her mother did with her and John, in raising those kids," an insider told People. Apparently, it will fall on Caroline to tell Edwin and Josephine about their mother — just as Jackie Kennedy once told Caroline all about John F. Kennedy after his death. The aforementioned source said that her goal has been "To make sure they remember their mom — and she has the playbook." Caroline's responsibility has been made even heavier by the fact that Edwin was the same age as her little brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., had been when their father died. Certainly, it has brought back some bad memories. As historian Steven M. Gillon told the outlet: "Tragically, history is repeating itself."

Caroline Kennedy is not the only first daughter who dedicated her life to honoring her father's memory; former President George H. W. Bush's daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch, has pursued a strikingly similar path. In 2006, Bush Koch wrote the book "My Father, My President" about her dad's political career. Offering significant glimpses into Bush's personal life, the biography became a New York Times bestseller and an important piece of American history.

Following her massive writing success, Bush Koch certainly could have pursued a career as a biographer. However, instead, she opted to dip her toes into the public speaking realm. The transition came after she was first introduced to the world of mindfulness and meditation by her sister-in-law, Tricia Reilly Koch. "I knew it was just the thing that I needed, being from a family that is in the public eye. It was an enormous help and a great tool to us," Bush Koch recalled to the Washington Speakers Bureau.

From there, Bush Koch and Reilly Koch were inspired to co-found a podcast called "Health Gig." On their show, the two women interview researchers, therapists, and wellness experts about the pursuit of health and happiness. They also provide a number of short guided meditations focusing on goals like faith, hope, or peace. Bush Koch additionally makes room in her schedule for public engagements, which often explore themes surrounding wellness and mindfulness. 

Perhaps because so many other first daughters have enjoyed careers adjacent to politics, many Americans expected Chelsea Clinton to run for office herself. As the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chelsea was certainly well-connected enough to establish herself in the political sphere. Plus, she had a family dynasty to back her up. Many Clinton fans have wondered whether she would want to carry on her parents' legacy to future generations. Apparently, that isn't a career she has taken under consideration.

Reflecting on this dynamic in a 2018 interview with Bloomberg Television, Chelsea explained, "I'm often asked, like, 'Are you going to run for political office one day?' And, I always respond with sharing that the first time someone asked me that question, I was three." When the interviewer later followed up by asking Chelsea if any particular issue would inspire her to run, the former first daughter clarified that there are other ways to live a meaningful life. "I think that we're citizens every day, regardless of whether we're running for office ... We're citizens in the way that we treat each other, in the way that we listen to each other, in the way that we respect each other," she explained. This posture highlights Chelsea's resistance to the idea that the only way to fight for change is through public service. It also reveals her desire to do something different than her parents.

One of the ways that Chelsea Clinton strove to make a difference was through the Clinton Foundation. Created by her parents, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, this non-profit has dedicated funds to increasing access to important resources — like HIV/AIDs medication and clean drinking water. At first, Chelsea was hesitant about joining the organization. As she explained during Fortune's 2013 Most Powerful Women Summit (via US News): "I tried very hard to care about things that were different than what my parents cared about. Because who wants to grow up and feel like it was all just so predestined?" Eventually, however, she realized that the Clinton Foundation's work appealed to her, and she became the institution's vice chair.

There have been, of course, drawbacks to working at her parents' organization. Since joining the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton has faced a number of malicious rumors. A user on X, formerly Twitter, even accused Chelsea of stealing money from USAID via the foundation in a post that claimed, "Court documents reveal Chelsea cashed checks on behalf of the foundation, then quietly funneled the money into a personal Cayman Islands account." According to the independent fact-checking site, Snopes, there is no evidence to support these claims. If anything, as the site concluded, these rumors were intended by the poster as a satirical joke. That being said, the gossip surrounding Chelsea has certainly distracted from the former first daughter's work.

The Bush family isn't exactly known for their basketball skills, but former President George W. Bush's daughter, Barbara Bush, still cinched a job at the National Basketball Association (NBA). The oldest of the two Bush twins — who live very different lives – Barbara was always known for her academic spirit. She studied at Yale University before working for a number of non-profits, taking a special interest in issues surrounding health. As Barbara explained at Boston College's 2025 Chambers Lecture. "At 21, I was struck by the injustice of the notion that if you were poor, you couldn't get these life-saving medications. I didn't want to live in that world, and so I became obsessed with global health."

The former first daughter's fascination with health eventually led her to the NBA, where she has focused more on the psychological side than the physical. As the NBA's vice president of Social Impact, Barbara has tried to inspire television audiences to prioritize their mental well-being. Her efforts have come in the form of advertisements for different types of support. "To think about how we can use this huge reach to work on issues that matter to our fans is a really fun puzzle for me to think about," she told the audience at the Boston College lecture. As for the game itself, well, Barbara is apparently still learning. "I know very little about basketball," she confessed.

While George W. Bush's twin daughter, Barbara Bush, took on a public role from the outset, his other twin daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, preferred to live a private life — at least initially. Bush Hager studied at the University of Texas at Austin. Following her graduation, she went on to become a schoolteacher. Sadly, though, Bush Hager found that not everybody was willing to give her credit for her hard work in the classroom. As she told Parade in a 2024 interview, "When I was a teacher, I was a third-grade teacher, and I came to visit my sister in New York and she worked in a museum and I went to a party with her and somebody said, 'What do you do?' And I said, 'I'm a third-grade teacher!'" The person's response? According to Bush Hager, they quipped, "How cute."

For the former president's daughter, this response was totally belittling. "I think part of what we don't realize is that teachers are educators, of course, but they are also counselors and they are mediators, they are love givers — they are teaching leadership and kindness and compassion," she told Parade in the same interview. The experience has motivated Bush Hager to stand in support in education — even as her career eventually took her in a different direction. "My kids are cute, but [teaching] is not cute. It's demanding, it's intellectually stimulating, it's hard," the trained educator affirmed.

Jenna Bush Hager may have initially pursued a quiet life, but eventually, she decided to take on a bigger public role. In 2007, after completing an internship in UNICEF's Educational Policy Department, she published a book called "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope." Bush Hager's subsequent media tour proved that she was great in front of the cameras. By 2009, she had become an education correspondent on NBC News. There, she flourished on camera, and eventually, she was promoted to co-host of "Today."

Among the journalists featured on the show, Bush Hager has stood out for her emotional intelligence. As her co-host, Sheinelle Jones, told Good Housekeeping at the beginning of 2026, "The fourth hour [of the show] is, to me, more of a sisterhood and friendship. The kinds of things Jenna and I talk about and hold space for is not the same kind of content done on the third hour." During their daily segment, Jones and Bush Hager have been known to discuss snacks, celebrities, and the antics of children. They have sat down with big-name actors, like Natalie Portman, to kick back, relax, and inject a bit of positivity into the news cycle. "People are coming to us to take the heavy backpacks off," Bush Hager told Parade in 2026. "We want you to sit and laugh and feel good and comforted and hopefully feel like you're with friends."

If Jenna Bush Hager proved that a former first daughter could make a name for herself in the entertainment industry, Malia Obama seemed keen to follow in her footsteps. Like Bush Hager, Malia grew up in the White House. Her father, former President Barack Obama, and his historic presidential campaign shone a blinding spotlight on her childhood. As an adult, it seems, Malia became eager to put her familiarity with fame to good use. She interned on Lena Dunham's television show, "Girls," and worked as a production assistant on the sci-fi series, "Extant." Malia got a behind-the-scenes look at the writer's room for Donald Glover's "Swarm"  — where, according to her co-workers, she stood out for her bold ideas.

But, as Malia Obama has been making her own way in Hollywood, there have been many ups and downs. On one hand, her short film, "The Heart," swiped the prize for Best Live Action Short at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2023. On the other, Malia Obama's friends worried about her in 2025, after the year closed without any new credits on the young filmmaker's IMDb profile. Despite these setbacks, people close to Malia seem to be aware of just how much she has achieved. As one insider told RadarOnline, "Malia's been working in Hollywood since she was a college student and, thanks to her family's high profile, she's gotten more experience than your average twenty-something TV writer-producer."

As Malia Obama has glittered in the limelight, her younger sister, Sasha Obama, has kept things way more low-key. Apart from a stint at a Martha's Vineyard seafood joint back in 2016, Sasha has managed to keep most of her employment history out of the news. And, while her move to Los Angeles, California, has sparked rumors of a Hollywood career, Sasha has not been particularly open about her professional aspirations. When someone of the same name was listed in the credits of the show "Couples Therapy," Sasha did not confirm nor deny that she had participated in the project. Her IMDb profile focuses on instances — like the documentary "Becoming" — where she appears as herself in a non-fictional capacity.

That's not to say that Sasha has kept her name out of the papers. As a young fashionista with adorable clothing choices, the former first daughter has made headlines for her super sense of style. As per Hola!, she's been big on ensembles with a strong Y2K vibe. Think long skirts, flip flops, and midriff tops. In one particularly stylish outfit, Sasha wore a calf-length tie-dye skirt and white midriff tank with an army green backpack slung over one of her shoulders. In another, she rocked an ankle-length blue skirt and matching crop top. Sasha looked like she'd walked straight out of "Clueless" or "10 Things I Hate About You," and we are totally here for it.