Scourge of 9 US presidents dies, aged 92
Source: Agencies |
July 21, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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HELEN Thomas, the irrepressible White House correspondent who used her seat in the front row of history to grill nine presidents - often to their discomfort and was not shy about sharing her opinions, died yesterday. She was 92.
Thomas, who died at her apartment in Washington, had been ill for a long time, and in and out of the hospital before coming home on Thursday, according to a friend, Muriel Dobbin. Thomas made her name as a bulldog for United Press International and as a pioneer for women in journalism.
She was persistent to the point of badgering. One White House press secretary described her questioning as "torture" - and he was one of her fans.
Her refusal to conceal her strong opinions, even when posing questions to a president, and her public hostility toward Israel, caused discomfort among colleagues.
In 2010, that tendency finally ended a career which had started in 1943 and made her one of the best known journalists in Washington. On a videotape circulated on the Internet, she said Israelis should "get out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany, Poland or the United States. The remark brought down widespread condemnation.
In January 2011, she became a columnist for a free weekly paper in a Washington suburb, after the controversy forced her from her previous post.
Her disdain for White House secrecy and dodging spanned five decades, back to President John F. Kennedy.
The Bush administration marginalized her, peeved with a journalist who had challenged George W. Bush to his face on the Iraq war and declared him the worst president in history.
After she quit UPI in 2000 her influence waned.
Thomas was accustomed to getting under the skin of presidents. "If you want to be loved," she said years earlier, "go into something else."
Thomas was at the forefront of women's achievements in journalism. She was one of the first female reporters to break out of the White House "women's beat" and cover hard news on an equal footing with men.
She became the first female White House bureau chief for a wire service when UPI named her to the position in 1974. She was also the first female officer at the National Press Club.
Born in Winchester, Kentucky, to Lebanese immigrants, after graduating from Detroit's Wayne University, Thomas headed for Washington, landing a job as a copy girl at the Washington Daily News. United Press soon hired her to write local news.
Thomas, who died at her apartment in Washington, had been ill for a long time, and in and out of the hospital before coming home on Thursday, according to a friend, Muriel Dobbin. Thomas made her name as a bulldog for United Press International and as a pioneer for women in journalism.
She was persistent to the point of badgering. One White House press secretary described her questioning as "torture" - and he was one of her fans.
Her refusal to conceal her strong opinions, even when posing questions to a president, and her public hostility toward Israel, caused discomfort among colleagues.
In 2010, that tendency finally ended a career which had started in 1943 and made her one of the best known journalists in Washington. On a videotape circulated on the Internet, she said Israelis should "get out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany, Poland or the United States. The remark brought down widespread condemnation.
In January 2011, she became a columnist for a free weekly paper in a Washington suburb, after the controversy forced her from her previous post.
Her disdain for White House secrecy and dodging spanned five decades, back to President John F. Kennedy.
The Bush administration marginalized her, peeved with a journalist who had challenged George W. Bush to his face on the Iraq war and declared him the worst president in history.
After she quit UPI in 2000 her influence waned.
Thomas was accustomed to getting under the skin of presidents. "If you want to be loved," she said years earlier, "go into something else."
Thomas was at the forefront of women's achievements in journalism. She was one of the first female reporters to break out of the White House "women's beat" and cover hard news on an equal footing with men.
She became the first female White House bureau chief for a wire service when UPI named her to the position in 1974. She was also the first female officer at the National Press Club.
Born in Winchester, Kentucky, to Lebanese immigrants, after graduating from Detroit's Wayne University, Thomas headed for Washington, landing a job as a copy girl at the Washington Daily News. United Press soon hired her to write local news.
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