Dana Perino was 25 and building a career on Capitol Hill when she met Peter McMahon, a 43-year-old British businessman, by chance on a flight from Denver to Chicago on August 17, 1997. Their conversation lasted about two and a half hours. What followed was a long-distance relationship spanning the United States and England, a difficult career decision, and a marriage that Perino says never had to come at the expense of her ambitions.
A chance meeting on a flight
Perino has described meeting McMahon as an unexpected turning point. They were seated next to each other on the Denver-to-Chicago flight, began talking, and continued their conversation for most of the journey before exchanging contact information.
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The circumstances were not especially simple. Perino was working in Washington, D.C., and trying to establish herself professionally. McMahon lived in England. They were also 18 years apart: Perino was 25, while McMahon was 43.
In accounts of their relationship, Perino has emphasized the practical and emotional uncertainty she felt at the beginning—not because she viewed the age difference as automatically disqualifying, but because she worried about how friends and family would react and whether a serious relationship might interfere with the career she was building.
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The age gap was a concern Perino had to work through
The 18-year age difference has become one of the most discussed details of Perino and McMahon’s story. Perino’s own recollections put the issue in a more personal context than the headline shorthand of “older husband” suggests.
She has said that she had to consider what the difference in age meant for their future and how to explain the relationship to people close to her. At the same time, the relationship developed through conversation and time apart rather than through a carefully planned search for a partner.
That distinction matters. Perino has not presented the age gap as the central definition of their marriage. Instead, she has described it as one of several realities they had to address while deciding whether the relationship was strong enough to pursue.
A transatlantic relationship and a major career decision
After Representative Dan Schaefer announced his retirement in 1998, Perino faced a natural transition point in her Capitol Hill career. She ultimately moved to England, where she married McMahon.
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The decision involved more than relocating to be with someone she loved. Perino was leaving the professional environment in which she had begun developing her public-affairs and government-communications career. In her later reflections, she has connected that moment to a piece of advice from a friend: “Do not pass up the chance to be loved.”
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For Perino, that advice became part of a broader lesson. She has argued that choosing a relationship does not necessarily mean choosing against ambition. A career can change direction, pause, or resume without being permanently surrendered.
The couple later returned to the United States, first moving to San Diego and eventually settling back in Washington, where Perino resumed her professional work.
McMahon’s support behind the scenes
Perino has portrayed McMahon as a supportive presence during several stages of her career. His role, as she describes it, was not usually public or ceremonial. Instead, he helped her prepare and encouraged her as her responsibilities expanded.
When Perino was developing her foreign-policy knowledge, she said McMahon watched documentaries with her, asked questions, and shared his international perspective. Those conversations gave her another way to test ideas and prepare for work that demanded confidence across complicated global issues.
In a 2022 Fox News podcast conversation, McMahon joined Perino to discuss how they met and how they continue to support each other’s careers. A later Fox News Radio discussion in 2026 revisited the story of their airplane meeting and the decision to move across an ocean. These accounts complement Perino’s own description of McMahon as a behind-the-scenes source of support.
Marriage during Perino’s rise in Washington
Perino’s professional path eventually brought her to the White House. She became press secretary under President George W. Bush in September 2007 and served in the position through January 2009.
Her marriage was part of that period rather than an obstacle she had to hide or overcome. The White House archive identified her as married to Peter McMahon, and current official Perino materials continue to identify him as her husband.
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That does not mean the relationship eliminated the pressures of public life. White House work, media scrutiny, travel, and political conflict create demands for any family. But Perino’s account offers a different version of the familiar career-versus-relationship narrative: a spouse can be part of the infrastructure that allows a demanding career to continue.
Are Dana Perino and Peter McMahon still married?
The latest reviewed official biography on Perino’s author website identifies her as living in New York City with her husband, Peter McMahon, and their dog, Percy. Based on that current official description, Perino and McMahon should be described as a married couple. There is no basis here for presenting their story as a divorce or separation report.
Details about McMahon’s private business career, exact birth date, finances, family history, or alleged prior relationships are often repeated online, but the available primary and high-quality sources reviewed for this profile do not establish enough information to responsibly expand on those claims.
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Perino’s larger lesson about love and ambition
The most revealing part of Perino’s account is not simply that she married an older man. It is that she made a major personal decision at a moment when she was also trying to define her professional future.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchHer recurring message is that love and ambition should not automatically be treated as competing choices. The move to England changed the route of her career, but it did not end it. She returned to the United States, resumed public-affairs work, and later reached one of the most prominent communications roles in American government.
Perino has developed similar themes in I Wish Someone Had Told Me . . .: The Best Advice for Building a Great Career and a Meaningful Life, which addresses career choices, transitions, work-life balance, relationships, burnout, and meaningful living. For readers interested in the advice behind her public reflections, the book provides broader context than the marriage story alone.
Related reading: Perino’s book is especially relevant to this story because it examines the same question at its center: how to pursue a meaningful career without assuming that personal relationships must be sacrificed. Availability and formats vary by retailer.
Perino and McMahon’s relationship began with an unplanned conversation between two strangers on an airplane. It survived distance, an 18-year age difference, and a difficult decision about where to build a life. Perino’s own takeaway is straightforward: accepting the chance to be loved does not have to mean giving up the chance to achieve.
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How did Dana Perino meet Peter McMahon?
They met on August 17, 1997, on a flight from Denver to Chicago. Perino has said they talked for roughly two and a half hours and exchanged contact information before the flight ended.
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How much older is Peter McMahon than Dana Perino?
McMahon is 18 years older than Perino. She was 25 and he was 43 when they met.
Where did Dana Perino and Peter McMahon live after marrying?
Perino moved to England after her employer, Representative Dan Schaefer, announced his retirement in 1998, and she married McMahon there. The couple later returned to the United States, moving first to San Diego and eventually back to Washington.
Are Dana Perino and Peter McMahon divorced?
The latest official biography reviewed for this profile identifies Peter McMahon as Perino’s husband. The available evidence supports describing them as married, not separated or divorced.
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Perino has said that choosing love does not have to be a career-limiting decision. She has also described McMahon as a behind-the-scenes supporter who helped her prepare for foreign-policy work and encouraged her professional development.
The Bottom Line
Dana Perino’s marriage to Peter McMahon began with a chance 1997 flight, an 18-year age difference, and a long-distance relationship between Washington and England. Her account of their life together is ultimately less about the age gap than about the decision to pursue love without treating it as the opposite of professional ambition.
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