NEWSJenna Bush Hager Says Being Vice President in High School Is as Far as She'll Go in Politics: 'That Was the Pinnacle'
Jenna Bush Hager and Heather McMahan discussed their high school political days, revealing their respective past roles as vice president and president.
Oct. 21 2026, Published 11:07 a.m. ET
Jenna Bush Hager shared a glimpse of her high school political career while chatting with guest host Heather McMahan.
"I was the vice president," Bush Hager revealed on an episode of TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.
Bush Hager and McMahan Shared a High School Connection
Jenna Bush Hager revealed she discovered Heather McMahan's past student body president role after watching her new special.
The conversation began when Bush Hager pointed out that she and McMahan had something in common. "I've learned in the special that you were the class president," she told the comedian.
"I was student body president," McMahan clarified, prompting Bush Hager to reveal her own student government role.
McMahan then took a look at her own high school photo and was surprised by her teenage appearance.
"Oh my gosh! Talk about a comb-over! And look at my string of pearls! I had no eyebrows. They definitely grew back," she quipped.
McMahan Campaigned on Flip-Flop Fridays
Heather McMahan explained that she won her election by promising classmates 'flip-flop Fridays' to escape their strict uniform policy.
Bush Hager was curious about what McMahan had promised her classmates during her campaign.
"What was your platform?" she asked.
The comedian explained that she proposed a more relaxed dress code one day a week.
"That we would have flip-flop Fridays," McMahan recalled. "You had to wear uniforms, and I said you could wear jeans and a spirit T-shirt on Friday, and flip-flops."
"Did you win?" Bush Hager asked.
"Of course!" McMahan replied.
McMahan Just Wanted the Hot Gossip
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Heather McMahan confessed she ran for office solely to overhear weekend gossip during Monday meetings in the principal's office.
McMahan then disclosed another reason for running, admitting she wanted to drop in on the conversations happening in the principal's office.
"I really only did it because I wanted to sit in the office every Monday morning and get the hot gossip," she confessed. "That's why I did it."
She described sitting with the principal and school counselor. "I'm like, 'What happened this weekend?'" McMahan recalled.
She then jokingly turned the conversation back on Bush Hager: "Why did you do it? Well, it runs in your family. Haha! Stupid question."
Hager Joked That Her Political Career Had Peaked
Jenna Bush Hager quipped that her student government days marked the peak of her political career, referencing her family's legacy.
The former first daughter joked that her high school student government role was as far as she went in politics.
"That was the pinnacle," she replied. "You know. There was only so far to go. Well, for me, as far as the presidency."
Bush Hager's grandfather George H.W. Bush served as vice president under Ronald Reagan before becoming president in 1989. Her dad, George W. Bush, was president from 2001 to 2009.
Bush Hager Has Shared Other Stories About Her Political Upbringing
Jenna Bush Hager previously described childhood pranks, remembering when she and her twin sister repeatedly called their grandfather's vice-presidential office.
This is not the first time Bush Hager has shared stories about growing up around politics.
In an earlier segment, she recalled how she and twin sister Barbara Bush played a childhood phone prank on the vice president when they were about 5 years old.
"We kept calling my grandpa's office over and over again being like, 'Blah, blah, blah pwesident, [aic]' and hanging up," recalled the 44-year-old.
The game did not go over well with their folks. "My parents were so mad at us," Jenna recalled.
