Since she joined Today in 2009, Jenna Bush Hager has proven to be more than just the daughter of a United States President.
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She has admitted she probably "wouldn't have been given that opportunity" if she weren't the daughter of former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. Still, she has worked hard to show she is more than just a "nepo baby," even to her colleagues at Today.
Jenna Bush Hager Didn't Want To Work at "Today" at First
The 44-year-old Bush Hager now has a successful book club and co-hosts the fourth hour of the NBC morning news program, titled Today with Jenna & Sheinelle. But as she explained this morning on the show, before she stepped in front of the camera as a correspondent in 2009, the popular TV personality didn't want the job.
"They asked me to come work. I said no because I was a teacher and I kept teaching for several years. And then, as we all know, teaching is the hardest job there is," said Bush Hager. "So eventually, I took the interview, and I started here."
She was still learning the ins and outs of the job when one of her peers made a disparaging comment to her face.
"I remember — and I'm not gonna say who — but month two where I'm just trying to learn ... oh, I mean, I didn't know anything," she recalled. "Anyway, a correspondent said to me, 'We just thought they hired you because of your dad.'"
Bush Hager Says Her Privilege Made Her "Work Like Crazy"
As a mother of three, Bush Hager shared that she pushed herself too hard to prove to her coworkers and online critics that her parents were not the reason for her success.
"It's the thing that probably all of us can feel bad about, but then what we do to get over that is work like crazy, work beyond to where we're working ourselves too much," she said. "Maria Shriver said that to me. She was like, 'Why are you doing all this?'"
Now, Bush Hager feels she has proven herself, but she still doesn't take her success for granted.
She said, "I feel lucky to be here, and I've also felt like I've needed to prove it."
