He wasnāt just pulling up for a first dateāhe was about to make federal history.
What began as a casual evening out between two young romantics quickly veered into full-blown political farce, complete with a stalled engine, a rogue hill, and a very unhappy Secret Service agent. For Jenna Bush Hager and Henry Hager, their early romance came with high stakesāand even higher comedy.
āHenry woke up the next morning, looked around, and literally screamed,ā Jenna laughed, recalling the moment with vivid delight. āI mean, he worked for my dad. And I just told him, āHave fun with thatāIām out!āā
The real kicker? This wasnāt some tabloid exaggerationāit happened. During what Jenna describes as her worst first date ever, the car ran out of gas at precisely the wrong moment.
āWe were heading uphill when he suddenly realized we were running on fumes,ā she told People. āHe tried to make it to the gas station, but instead, the car just gave upārolled backward down the hill and crashed right into the Secret Service car following us.ā
Thatās right: their unassuming date night ended with a full-on fender bender⦠with federal agents.
āI was dying laughing,ā Jenna recalled. āBut Henry? He was mortified.ā
conlusion:
What could have been a relationship-ending disaster instead turned into one of the most memorable footnotes in their love story.
From rolling into Secret Service vehicles to rolling with lifeās punches, Jenna and Henry Hagerās early days were full of surprises, mishaps, and a fair bit of secondhand embarrassment. But their ability to laugh through the awkwardness proved to be the glue that stuckāand stuck hard. Because sometimes, the best stories begin with a crash… literally.