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Dana Perino was perhaps always destined for a life in news business and politics. She was raised by her parents, Janice and Leo Perino, on a horse ranch in Wyoming and Colorado, alongside her only sister, Angie Perino. Her father, who used to work in human resources, always paid attention to the news cycle and taught Dana to stay curious and informed about current events. “My sister and I had happy childhoods,” she said on her podcast, “Everything Will Be Okay,” in 2021. “We were loved and cared for, we had a lot of friends, and my parents worked hard to ensure we had good educations.”

She remembers her early years as carefree and full of wonder. But alas, life beyond her sheltered childhood was anything but. As an adult, Perino experienced personal hardships and tragic losses — from the death of her mentor, Tony Snow, to losing a cherished companion to a terminal illness in 2021. These experiences shaped Dana’s character and forced her to develop a tough exterior. “When I was the deputy press secretary and press secretary, we were dealing with some pretty tough issues like any presidency does. Every presidency does,” Dana, who worked during the George W. Bush administration, stressed in an interview with influencer Kate Mackz. “And I realized I actually didn’t cry at the terrible news.” She added, “I can be very calm. I did, however, feel like the experience made me a little bit more hard-edged than my natural state of being, and I had to learn how to wipe that away a little bit after I left.” It wasn’t the only time her emotions were tested during her White House years, though, as she once revealed the real reason Bush made her cry.

Working as press secretary not only challenged Dana Perino to stay calm and composed under pressure, but it also put her in unpredictable and, sometimes, dangerous situations. During an official visit to Iraq, which would mark George W. Bush’s last overseas trip before leaving office, Perino famously suffered a black eye after an Iraqi journalist attempted to throw a shoe at the U.S. president in the midst of a news conference. She recounted the seconds before a microphone stand accidentally hit her face in her book “And the Good News Is…” published in 2025. “As the second shoe was being thrown, the President’s Secret Service agent charged forward to protect him, and he knocked the mic stand,” the now-Fox News anchor recalled. “The steel arm whipped around and hit me in the face on my upper cheekbone, just under my right eye.” She described the pain as piercing and jolting: “I was like a cartoon character seeing stars.”

Despite the attack, President Bush decided to carry on with the conference and had his chief medical officer, Dr. Richard Tubb, check on Perino. She was still in a lot of pain, but determined not to cause a scene and to follow Bush’s lead, she refused to let her injury interrupt the proceedings. Afterward, Bush came over to see how she was doing: “‘What happened?'” Perino recalled the president telling her on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” ‘I saw you crying, but I thought it was just because the guy threw a shoe at me.'” She added, “And I said, ‘Well, sir, I adore you, but I grew up in Wyoming and I’m a little tougher than that.”

Dana Perino started her career as a White House deputy press secretary under the late Robert Anthony Snow before being promoted in 2007 following his resignation. Snow, who had served as President Bush’s press secretary since 2006, had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer and was in remission until the disease returned two years later and metastasized to his liver. “When his health took a turn for the worse, he fought back against cancer and even managed to return to work. When he did, he seemed refreshed,” Perino wrote in an essay for Lean In. “But the 24/7 nature of the press secretary position, plus his love for his family, and desire to spend as much time with them as possible, led him to decide to step down. And that’s when I had to step up.”

Sadly, Snow lost his second battle with cancer and passed away in July 2008 at the age of 53. She had just gotten back from an overseas trip when Perino received an email from Snow’s wife, Jill, confirming the news. “A lot of thoughts ran through my head while my heart sank and my breath caught in my throat,” Perino recalled in a piece for Politico. She described that day as a whirlwind, answering countless calls from reporters while helping Jill arrange his funeral to ease some of the weight off her shoulders. In fact, “It wasn’t until many months later, after I had left the White House, that I had some time to reflect on how his life and death affected me,” said Perino. She remembers Snow not only as a terrific press secretary but also as a true friend and a wonderful mentor.

Dana Perino has always had a soft spot for animals. She grew up with a pet dog, a poodle named Joco, and has been a fur mom to three Hungarian Vizslas — Henry, Jasper, and Percy. Henry, her first Vizsla, had been with her since she was 26 and was, in many ways, like a child to her and her husband, Peter McMahon. Sadly, Henry crossed the rainbow bridge in 2012 after struggling with Cushing’s disease when he was 13 years old. “I loved him so much,” Perino wrote in an Instagram tribute to Henry in 2024. Then, along came Jasper, a.k.a. “America’s Dog.”

In her book, “Let Me Tell You About Jasper…” Perino shared that it was Greta Van Susteren who suggested they get another dog to cope with the death of Henry. At first, McMahon was hesitant, insisting they could never replace Henry even if they tried. However, after two nights of grieving in silence, they agreed to give it a chance: “So that night, finally showing some signs of life after the death of Henry, we fell in love with our new puppy that we’d never even met. We even named him: Jasper.”

For nine years, Jasper was the joy and center of their lives — unfortunately, he also developed some health issues and ultimately died of a “fast-spreading cancer” in 2021. To say Perino and McMahon were heartbroken was an understatement. “There wasn’t a day he didn’t make us laugh out loud, melt my heart, or smooth my rough edges,” Perino wrote in an essay for Fox News days after Jasper’s death. However, she added, “Loving Jasper was worth every penny and then some.” In time, she and McMahon welcomed a third pup into their lives — Percy, who helped fill the giant, empty space his brothers, Henry and Jasper, left behind.