Helen Thomas was the tenacious and feisty dean of the White House press corps who covered 10 presidents and was a trailblazer for female journalists.
Thomas covered every administration from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and, as Gerald Ford put it, practised ”a fine blend of journalism and acupuncture.”
As the senior correspondent at the White House, it fell to Thomas to end presidential press conferences with the declaration: ”Thank you, Mr President.”
Perhaps her most lasting achievement as a journalist was to shatter the glass ceiling in the press room. She was the first woman to serve as White House bureau chief for a wire service – United Press International- and the first female officer of three Washington institutions that defined press power: the National Press Club, the White House Correspondents’ Association and the Gridiron Club.
In May 2010, Thomas was forced to give up her Hearst column after making anti-Israel remarks in a videotaped interview. She apologised for saying that Jews should ”get the hell out of Palestine” and ”go home” but she couldn’t escape the controversy and resigned.
Thomas had a reputation for asking questions with an edge and was so vociferous in her criticism of the second war in Iraq that, for three years, then president George W. Bush never called on her. When he finally did, she rose and said ”you’re going to be sorry” before launching into a tirade-turned-question about the war.
She broke news – Lyndon Johnson was enraged when Thomas reported his daughter Luci’s engagement before Patrick Nugent had asked his permission. She made history as the only female journalist to accompany Richard Nixon on his historic trip to China.
She made foes – ”I’m persona non grata,” she said of her relationship with George W. Bush. But when she left UPI to become a columnist, the White House Correspondents’ Association decreed that she should still sit in the front row during press briefings, explaining that she was ”the dean of the White House press corps”.
Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/helen-thomas-feisty-journalist-broke-glass-ceiling-20130721-2qcda.html#ixzz2ZilmSc9D
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