It's likely that you know the name of Jenna Bush Hager's husband, Henry Hager, only in
combination with the former first daughter. But there's more to him than just being a
famous husband. Here are some things you may not know about Henry Hager.
Henry graduated from an all-boys college preparatory school in Richmond, Virgina, in 1996, according
to The Washington Times. One of his teachers there described him as "bright, articulate,
polite and kind," according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In the same article, a neighbor
said,
"He never sought the spotlight. Henry's a good boy. I watched him grow up."
From there, he earned his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science, from Wake Forest University
in 2000. As he prepared to wed Jenna in May 2008, he was set to receive his master's degree,
an MBA, from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, just a week
later.
After Henry graduated from Wake Forest in 2000, he served as staff assistant to the
White House senior advisor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. From there, he
joined President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign team as a deputy operations manager, according
to his bio from the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
It was on the campaign trail that he met his future wife, the president's daughter, although
their trajectory into a relationship wasn't instant. In fact, Henry had a girlfriend at
the time their paths first crossed, as Jenna revealed on the Today show.
"A friend of mine from college was his intern at work, and we were going to watch the Texas
game, and they were like, 'Can we bring Henry?' and I'm like, 'how old is he?'"
Eventually, the mutual friends arranged to set them up. Henry came over to watch that
football game, and the deal was sealed. The chemistry between them was apparently undeniable,
they kissed that night, and the rest is history.
At first, Jenna's mother, Laura Bush, didn't take Henry seriously as a prospect for her
daughter. According to The Washington Post, she confessed in a TV interview in early 2005,
"This is not a serious boyfriend, I hate to have to be the one to say it on television.
But he's a very nice young man."
Despite Laura's initial doubts, her husband ultimately approved of Henry. According to
The Washington Post, Henry's mother had insisted he ask President Bush for his permission to
propose to Jenna, and so he did.
"Asking the President of the United States for his permission to marry his daughter was
pretty nerve-wracking, yeah."
According to Jenna's book Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life, Jenna's
dad was sold before the groom could even communicate his whole pre-planned speech, and he called
out for his wife to come in and witness the exciting event as it unfolded. Apparently,
George added that he loved his daughter, even though, in his words,
"She can be a pain in the ass."
The proposal came about a year later when the couple was camping out in the mountains.
Jenna was admittedly cranky on the trip since she wasn't getting enough sleep, but back
home, her family knew what was really about to happen.
"So they kept checking in, and Barbara kept saying, 'I mean, she is so grumpy, he is going
to break up with her! Why would he propose to her?' But he did."
Henry woke her up before dawn, and together they hiked up a mountain to watch the sun
rise.
"And he proposed with a secret service man in tow!"
They went on to get married on May 10th, 2008, and President Bush was over the moon about
it, he shared that sentiment with reporters while boarding Air Force One, telling NBC
News,
"Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy, Henry. The wedding was spectacular.
It's just, it's all we could have hoped for."
"We've been together forever, he would know that I'm, you know, totally devoted to him."
These days, Henry is on the board of directors for the George W. Bush Presidential Center,
according to his bio on its website. After working with an energy company called Constellation
Energy and with an American global investment firm, he became the managing director at Waterous
Energy Fund.
If you already assumed Jenna's husband had major cash, well, you were right. As of 2019,
his estimated net worth is in the range of about $10 million. Granted, that figure represents
a combined net worth with his wife, so here's an attempt to break it all down:
Henry comes from a family of significant status and he transitioned from an early political
career to a series of gigs in the private sector with employment at some big time businesses.
So it's not entirely surprising that his earnings could feasibly add up to a seven or eight-figure
tally that, it's fair to say, makes him a decidedly rich man. Plus, Jenna's Today show
co-hosting job alone reportedly pays a salary of about $4 million, though that's not confirmed,
as a Today rep told Page Six that the organization's policy is to not comment on talent contracts.
"This job, I'm so proud of her, because you don't get it without the hard work."
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