Meet Jenna Bush Hager’s Twin Sister Barbara Bush! Facts About the Activist You Didn’t Know

She’s an Amazing Mom!

Both Jenna and Barbara have started families of their own. The broadcaster welcomed kids Mila, Poppy and Hal with her husband, Henry Hager. Barbara became a mom in September 2021 when she gave birth to her first child, daughter Cora Georgia, with her husband, Craig Coyne. 

Jenna has been by her only sibling’s side through every step of her journey to parenthood. Barbara, who serves on the board of the nonprofit Global Health Corps, shared how she was adjusting to motherhood in an April 2022 interview with People.

“It’s incredibly natural and shocking how easily she fits into our life, even though we have never met her seven months ago,” the activist gushed about motherhood at the time. “So, it’s been a lot of learning, and it’s been a huge joy for me.”

Barbara Named Her Daughter After Her Dad

Jenna and Barbara’s mom, Laura Bush, was thrilled to become a grandmother for the fourth time when Cora was born. She and her husband were ecstatic to hear the little one’s middle name, Georgia, an ode to the 43rd president and his father.

“It was really great,” the former teacher remarked about Cora’s middle name during an October 2021 episode of Today. “Cora Georgia. So, she’ll have to be his favorite.”

Barbara and Craig Once Lived in Her Parents’ House 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbara and Craig moved into Laura and George’s Texas ranch. After Cora’s birth, they prepared to move out as they entered the next chapter of their lives.

“That’s a big step, moving out of your parents’ house when you’ve moved back in, in your 30s, but we’re doing it,” Barbara previously told People.

She Got Candid About Growing Up in the Public Eye

Barbara admitted that growing up, she found a unique way to block out the noise of critics before the age of social media. 

“Even when our dad was president, I didn’t have a TV — intentionally,” she told WFAA in May 2022. “I didn’t want to see what other people were going to say about him — people that didn’t know him the way that we know him and would never have the opportunity to know him deeply and all the facets of him.”

Barbara Had a Unique Nickname as a Child 

During a June 2017 episode of Today, Jenna shared that she and her sister had unique nicknames as children.

“Somebody came up to my parents and said, ‘What cute boys.’ And my parents were the type that just played along with everything. And they were like, ‘They are cute!’” she said on the program. 

When the stranger asked what Jenna and Barbara’s names were, Laura and George decided to play along.

“They were like, ‘This is Benny and this one’s Beauregard,’” the mom of three shared. 

After the exchange, the names stuck, and Jenna ended up calling her sister “Beaugie” as they were growing up. 

Barbara and Jenna Believe the White House Is Haunted

During an October 2017 SiriusXM interview, the famous siblings recounted an experience they believe proves the White House is haunted. After hearing classical music coming from the fireplace in their bedrooms on two separate occasions, they were spooked.

“The hair on the back of our neck was standing up,” Barbara said. “So, we decided not to get in bed with our parents because we are about 24 years old. We convinced ourselves that the cat must have jumped right on top of the piano.”

Years later, Jenna doubled down on the claim about feeling a paranormal presence on Today in May 2021. 

“There’s an incredible man, Buddy, who still works at the White House. We adored him,” she explained. “And I said, ‘Buddy, you wouldn’t believe what Barbara and I heard last night.’ And he said, ‘Oh Jenna, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen in these walls.’”

She Was Thrust Into the Spotlight at an Early Age

Jenna and Barbara were 8 years old when their grandad took office. The talk show host recalled what it was like growing up in the spotlight in elementary school. At first, she and her sister were not fazed by having a world leader as a grandfather. 

“In first grade, we definitely didn’t have a sense of the gravity of what was happening,” Jenna said in a January 2021 issue of Maria Shriver’s newsletter. “In fact, my grandpa was such a humble man that when he was with us, he was so present, getting on the ground and playing with us and reading to us. So, when we were young, we never really knew the gravity of what was happening, and I think that was a lot because of him.”