The lives of the daughters of George W. Bush

Following their marriage in 1977, the future President of the USA and his wife had twin daughters in 1981. The girls came 5 weeks early though, and Laura Bush developed life-threatening complications.

The twins were born by Caesarian section in Dallas, Texas. They were named after their grandmothers: Jenna after Jenna Hawkins Welch, her maternal grandmother, and Barbara after her paternal grandmother, Barbara Bush.

While the girls were young, they attended elementary school in Dallas, Texas. When their father was elected Governor of Texas, they moved to Austin, Texas, where they attended high school and graduated in 2000.

George W. Bush became President of the United States of America in 2001. Jenna was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin the same year. She majored in English and graduated in 2004.

With Jenna remaining in Austin, Barbara began her next chapter in New Haven, Connecticut where she studied Humanities at Yale University. She went on to obtain a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

During their college years, Barbara and Jenna made news when they were both arrested for drinking underage in 2001. The sisters discussed this experience in their memoir, ‘Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life,’ published in 2017.

After their father’s first term as President, Jenna and Barbara decided to participate in his run for a second term. The daughters travelled with their father, made speeches, and showed their support at events. Despite being members of the Bush family with its strong Republican roots, the sisters have stated that they are not Republicans. They have chosen not to disclose their political affiliations.

Jenna began work as a teacher’s aid in a Washington Charter School in 2006. Following this, she started an internship with UNICEF in Panama. Her experience with UNICEF inspired her to write her first book, ‘Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope,’ which was released in 2007.

The couple met in 2004, when Henry was working for her father’s presidential re-election campaign. No stranger to the political life, Henry is the son of former lieutenant governor of Virginia John H. Hager. Jenna and Henry were married in Texas at the Bush family’s Prairie Chapel Ranch.

Jenna gave birth to their first daughter, Margaret ‘Mila’ Laura in 2013. Their second daughter, Poppy Louise, was born in 2015. Their son Henry Harold ‘Hal’ was born in 2019. In keeping with the Bush family tradition, each of their children was named after a parent or grandparent.

Image: Jenna Bush Hager / Instagram

In 2009, NBC hired Jenna to work for the ‘Today’ show as a contributor and occasional anchor. She is now the familiar co-host of the 4th hour of the ‘Today’ show alongside Hoda Kotb.

Following her graduation, Barbara interned for a pediatric AIDS program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In her work, she travelled to clinics in Africa and Eastern Europe and provided support to psychologists and social workers assisting young patients living with AIDS.

Global Health Corps is an organization whose focus is to support young leaders to solve global health problems. Barbara acted as CEO for the first nine years of the organization.

Barbara met screenwriter Craig Coyne through mutual friends in 2017. They got married in the company of 20 close family members and friends at the Bush family compound in Maine. Though his health was declining, Barbara’s grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, was in attendance. He passed away only weeks later, at the age of 94.

Image: Jenna Bush Hager / Instagram

In September of 2021, Barbara and Craig welcomed their daughter Cora Georgia Coyne 6 weeks earlier than expected. Due to being born premature, the baby had to spend her first few weeks in the neonatal ICU before the new parents could bring her home.

Image: Jenna Bush Hager / Instagram

Jenna and Barbara are intelligent and civically engaged women who have their own passions and successful careers. Together they are New York Times bestselling authors. They co-authored their aforementioned memoir in 2017. They have also written two children’s books, ‘Sisters First’ in 2019 and ‘The Superpower Sisterhood’ in 2022.