Jenna Bush Hager Teases Her ‘Today’ Interview With 4 Former U.S. Presidents

Jenna Bush Hager scored some major guests for her latest Today interview.

Bush Hager kicked off the week by announcing she recently sat down for exclusive interviews with the four living former U.S. presidents: Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and her father, George W. Bush.

“It was wild. We were in Philadelphia for the HISTORYTalks event, which is a private event that’s hosted by the History Channel, and our corporate parent [company] Comcast, was also part of it,” she explained on the Monday, April 20, episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle.

“They were all gonna be there, and we thought it was a really good opportunity to talk about that, sort of, legacy of sitting in the Oval Office with four people that have done it before,” she continued. “[We] talked about what inspired them to serve because we know that service can be hard. It can be hard to put your family through all of that. And yet, we need leaders.”

Sheinelle Jones noted that the former presidents “trust” Bush Hager, as she has “had a front row seat to it all.” (In addition to being the daughter of George W. Bush, the TV personality is also the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush.)

“I think all of them are optimistic about where we’ve come, and I think that’s such an important thing to take away, is that they all think that we live in a wonderful country and that we need to make sure we’re living up to some of those ideals,” Bush Hager said of the interviews. “It’s on the heels of America 250. That’s sort of what we’re talking about. … It was really interesting.”

 

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Jones went on to ask Bush Hager what it was like interviewing her father, to which she joked, “He’s funny. He harassed me. He likes to make funny jokes, and he then started talking about when I got a minor in possession of alcohol [charge]. I’m like, ‘Hey, Dad! That’s not what we’re talking about here, bro. Roll it back.’”

She concluded, “It was really interesting, and I think you all will be quite inspired by what they had to say.”

Bush Hager’s interviews with the former presidents will air on Today on Tuesday, April 21. The NBC morning show aired a sneak peek of the conversations earlier on Monday, during which the presidents shared their messages to America ahead of this year’s 250th anniversary.

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“I think my message is, ‘Don’t give up on America,’” said Clinton. “We’re the longest-lasting, freely elected government in history now, and a lot of people didn’t think we’d make it this long. I think it’d be a good thing if we made it longer. So, everybody should be thinking about that this year.”

Biden stated, “[We believe] that all men are created equal. Everyone’s entitled to a shot, that everybody has a shot. And I think as we do that, it grows instead of focusing on divisions, because we’re not nearly as divided as we’re being portrayed.”

Obama, for his part, told Bush Hager, “If we understand that part of this democratic project is to sort through our differences in peaceful, legal ways, then I’m confident that we’re gonna have another 250-year run that’s going to be just as good.”

 

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As for Bush, he said to his daughter, “My message is, ‘Consider yourself fortunate to be a part of a great nation. Study our history so you have a better sense for what the future will be like. And be a citizen, not a spectator, and by that, I mean participate in the process, but also love a neighbor like you’d like to be loved yourself.”

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