NEWSJenna Bush Hager Cried After Learning Dad George W. Bush Called Off a Wedding Before Meeting Mom Laura: 'I Made It About Myself'
Jenna Bush Hager cried after learning her father had been previously engaged.
Sept. 25 2026, Published 3:29 p.m. ET
Jenna Bush Hager burst into tears after learning her dad almost married someone beside her mom.
The anchor divulged the juicy moment she discovered George W. Bush's past relationship on the Friday, September 25, episode of TODAY With Jenna and Sheinelle.
"My dad actually called off a wedding," she told her co-host, Sheinelle Jones, after asking her if she knew anyone who hadn't gone through with their engagement.
Jenna Bush Hager reflected on George W. Bush's relationship before Laura Bush.
Jones, much like the rest of the audience, was understandably shocked at the revelation — especially since the former president has publicly had Laura Bush by his side for almost 50 years.
"My dad was engaged and he called off his wedding," Jenna elaborated. "They were really young."
It seems Jenna was just as surprised as everyone else when she learned of her father's previous relationship, as the mom-of-three recounted the moment she discovered his secret.
George W. Bush pulled out a photo album after his daughter got a bad grade.
"I got a bad grade on a math test in third grade," she remembered. "And I was like, 'I bet you got bad grades too, Dad.'"
In order to dispute his young daughter's point, Jenna recalled the former president pulling out a box of his old photos, documents and even report cards.
"And he was like, 'No, I didn't," she continued. "And he took out his memory box that my grandma had made for him to show a report card."
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'I Made It About Myself'
Jenna Bush Hager admitted that she made the discovery about herself.
But it wasn't her father's school records that caught young Jenna's attention.
"But I saw a wedding announcement to somebody who wasn't my mom," she recalled, prompting Sheinelle to gasp in shock. "And I started crying and made it about myself."
"As a third grader does," she added. "And he was like, 'Oh yeah, I was engaged.'"
Sheinelle attempted to console Jenna's younger self, noting that the present may have looked very different had George married his first fiancée.
'You Have to Listen to Yourself'
Laura Bush and George W. Bush married after three months of dating.
"I didn't realize in that third-grade sort of melodramatic, good thing he called it off because I wouldn't be here," Jenna agreed.
The anchor even commended her dad for making that decision, after which he married her mother, Laura. The couple met when mutual friends set them up at a backyard barbecue in July 1977. They tied the knot just three months later.
"To be able to walk away from something like that," Jenna beamed. "You do have to be able to listen to yourself."
