Jenna Bush Hager was tasked with a "wild" assignment for TODAY.
Over the weekend, the TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle anchor spent a day in Philadelphia interviewing all four living former presidents of the United States, for a special honoring the 250th anniversary of the country.
Among them was, of course, her father George W. Bush, president from 2000 to 2008, who she joked totally "harassed" her during their interview.
Speaking on the Monday, April 20 installment of TODAY, Jenna said interviewing Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and her father for the forthcoming History Talks event was "wild," and as for what she took away, she noted "all of them are optimistic."
They are optimistic "about where we've come," she went on, maintaining: "I think that's such an important thing to take away, is that they all think that we live in a wonderful country and think that we need to make sure we are living up to those ideals."
Insightful as the conversations were however, naturally, the dynamic with her father was slightly different, and Jenna did not hesitate to joke that the former president "harasses" her anytime she has conducted an interview with him.
© Getty Images"Here's the thing, I know you, you're so prepared, you're overprepared," her co-anchor Sheinelle Jones noted. "I can imagine the work that went into preparing for each one, but then you're sitting across from your father, I don't even know what the mindset is like."
"He's funny, he harassed me," Jenna went on, adding that he likes to make jokes and even reminded her about when she was infamously caught drinking underage twice in the span of five weeks during her father's first year in office.
"I'm like, 'Hey dad, that's not what we're talking about here bro. Roll it back,'" she quipped.
© Getty ImagesThe full conversation, in partnership with NBC's parent company Comcast and titled Common Ground: Celebrating America's 250th, will be aired exclusively on TODAY Tuesday morning.
© Getty ImagesIn an excerpt from the special, after Bush was asked what he would like to say to the American people ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary on July 4th, he shared: "My message is: 'Consider yourself fortunate to be a part of a great nation.'"
The former president added: "Study our history so you have a better sense for what the future will be like. And be a citizen, not a spectator. And by that I mean participate in the process, but also love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself."
