Jenna Bush Hager is unafraid of sharing things about her life on the Today show, whether it be new career projects or updates on her family. And from all she’s shared over the years, it’s clear she loves to open about how she built her life with her husband, Henry Chase Hager.
So, how did Jenna and Henry’s road to romance begin? Well, the couple’s love story actually began in the world of politics. The two first met back in 2004, when Jenna’s dad, former President George W. Bush, was knee deep in his re-election campaign. Henry was part of the committee working to get George re-elected, and he met Jenna when he came over to watch a football game at the White House. Jenna, who was then working as a teacher in Washington, D.C., found Henry attractive — but he had a girlfriend at the time. By the time Jenna’s dad was re-sworn in as President in 2005, however, the two had officially started dating.
“On Election Day, they were friends. By the Inaugural, they were an item,” a close friend of Henry’s told People about the couple’s romance in 2008.
By February 2005, Jenna and Henry’s relationship was made public — and according to The Washington Post, the two quickly became inseparable. Inaugural parties, the White House Dinner, and other public events — whenever they could be together, they were. Surprisingly, when reporters asked former First Lady Laura Bush about who Jenna was dating, she said that she didn’t see Henry as “a serious boyfriend.” But as it turns out, she was wrong, as the couple got engaged in 2007. What’s more, Jenna later revealed on the Today show that their engagement was far from the first time they discussed getting married.
“I proposed to Henry after several cocktails,” she confessed in August 2023. “He said no, but then five years later we got married. He didn’t say no — he was just like, ‘Uh uh uh.'”
When the couple did get properly engaged, the news immediately hit the media. As for how Henry proposed, The Knot wrote that Henry took his future bride on vacation in Maine. One morning, he woke Jenna up at 4 a.m. to go on a hike to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Timing it perfectly, they reached the top of the mountain when the sun was rising. Right then and there, Henry asked Jenna if she would be his wife.
A year later in May 2008, Jenna and Henry tied the knot in a romantic ceremony on the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas. After the wedding, the President said at a press conference, “Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy.”
Getty
Getty
Of course, Jenna and Henry’s love story doesn’t end there. In April 2013, Jenna and Henry welcomed their first child, daughter Margaret Laura “Mila” Hager. Daughter Poppy Louise and son Henry Harold “Hal” completed the group in August 2015 and August 2019, respectively, and since then, it’s been a life full of love.
While much has happened over the course of their relationship, Jenna seems to be just as in love with Henry now as she was back then — if not more so.
“Your love is like the Post-it note with stick figure drawings of ships passing that you left for me on the bathroom mirror when I returned home late. I’d been flying most of the day and I was dehydrated, and thirsty for home, for you,” she shared about her and Henry’s romance on the Today show. “Your love is like that note. It is simple and solid and thoughtful.”
Well aren’t they the cutest!
Associate Editor
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
