Throughout her well-documented career, Jenna Bush Hager had worked as an elementary school teacher and an intern for UNICEF, and, of course, she worked on the campaign trail with her father. But in 2009, it was announced that she’d be leaving her position as a teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, for a new gig as a Washington, D.C.-based contributing correspondent for NBC News. As noted by the Observer at the time, NBC executives made the announcement, crediting her impressive appearance on NBC’s “Today” as contributing factors to her hiring.
Hager, who got her degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin, was set to “cover a variety of human interest and feature stories,” which — given her innate understanding of the culture of the United States — made a lot of sense. Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC’s “Today,” said of Hager’s hiring, “Jenna is a terrific addition to the ‘Today’ team. In previous appearances, she displayed a natural ability to communicate and connect. She has great passion about important subjects, especially education and literacy, and we look forward to having her bring her unique perspective to ‘Today.’”