Jenna Bush Hager took viewers on a voyage through history, including her own family’s past, during a Fourth of July broadcast of TODAY from aboard the legendary Queen Mary 2.
During the segment, Jenna explored the iconic ocean liner with Captain Aseem Hashmi, getting a behind-the-scenes tour. She got a special look at some of the ship’s most impressive spaces, including the bridge, the grand ballroom and the library, one of the largest at sea.
But the visit became especially meaningful when Hashmi brought her to the suite where her grandparents, former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, stayed during their 2012 transatlantic crossing.
“It was on his bucket list for many, many years to take the Queen Mary,” Jenna said of her grandfather. “And he really enjoyed his trip.”
Jenna also paused to admire a framed thank-you note that her grandfather had written to a Cunard public relations executive, thanking the crew for helping make the voyage “an unforgettable memory.”
She recalled that her grandfather had first visited the Queen Mary 2 while it was docked during the 2004 Athens Olympics, before he and Barbara Bush fulfilled that longtime dream by sailing across the Atlantic together eight years later. Barbara Bush died in April 2018, and George H.W. Bush died later that year.
Jenna also got an exclusive look at one of the vessel’s prized keepsakes: Its guest book, which was first signed by Queen Elizabeth II, who served as Queen Mary 2’s godmother when she named the ship in 2004.
The emotional high point came while Jenna was on the top deck, where Hashmi described passengers gathering before sunrise to watch the ship pass the Statue of Liberty, recreating a moment experienced by generations of immigrants arriving in New York Harbor.
“Millions and millions would have traveled through the gateway there from everywhere and anywhere, with a dime in their pocket — possibly with nothing in their pocket,” he said. “They lived American dreams.”