- Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas (born
August 4 ,1920 ) is an Americannews service reporter, a Hearst Newspaperscolumnist , and member of theWhite House Press Corps . She served for fifty-seven years as acorrespondent and, later, White House bureau chief forUnited Press International (UPI). Thomas has covered every president sinceJohn F. Kennedy , was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, was the first woman member and president of theWhite House Correspondents Association , and the first woman member of theGridiron Club . She has written four books; her latest is called "Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public".Early life and career
Thomas was born in
Winchester, Kentucky , to Lebanese immigrants ["Contemporary Heroes and Heroines". Vol. 3. Gale Research, 1998; "Encyclopedia of World Biography" Supplement, Vol. 19. Gale Group, 1999; "Current Biography", H.W. Wilson Co., 1993.] fromTripoli, Lebanon , which at the time was part ofSyria . [Helen Thomas, "Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times", Scribner, 2000, page 17.] She was reared inDetroit, Michigan and attended Wayne University (now Wayne State University) , graduating with abachelor's degree in 1942. Thomas' first job injournalism was as a copygirl for the now-defunct "Washington Daily News", but shortly after she was promoted to cub reporter she was laid off as part of massive cutbacks at the paper.Thomas joined
United Press International in 1943 and reported on women's topics for their radiowire service . Later in the decade she wrote their "Names in the News" column, and after 1955 she covered federal agencies such as the Department of Justice,Federal Bureau of Investigation , and theDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare . Thomas served as president of the Women's National Press Club from 1959–60.Presidential correspondent
In November 1960, Thomas began covering then
President-elect John F. Kennedy , following him to theWhite House in January 1961 as a UPI correspondent. Thomas became known as the "Sitting Buddha", and it was during Kennedy's administration that she began the tradition of ending all presidential press conferences with a signature "Thank you, Mr. President".Thomas was the only female print journalist to travel with President
Richard Nixon toChina during his historic trip in 1972. She has traveled around the world several times with Presidents Nixon,Gerald Ford ,Jimmy Carter ,Ronald Reagan ,George H. W. Bush ,Bill Clinton , andGeorge W. Bush , and has covered every Economic Summit since 1975, working up to the position of UPI's White House Bureau Chief, a post she would hold for over twenty-five years. While serving as White House Bureau Chief, she authored a regular column for UPI, "Backstairs at the White House," which provided an insider's view of various presidential administrations.Resignation from United Press International
On
May 17 ,2000 , after fifty-seven years working with the organization, Thomas resigned from UPI the day after the announcement of its acquisition by News World Communications Inc., a company founded and controlled byUnification Church leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon. She later described the change in ownership as "a bridge too far". [cite news | last = Winter | first = Greg | title = Helen Thomas Is Back as a Columnist With Hearst | work =The New York Times | publisher =The New York Times Company | date =2000-07-10 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE2D91538F933A25754C0A9669C8B63 | accessdate = 2008-04-15] [cite news | first=David | last=Stout | coauthors= | title=Helen Thomas, Washington Fixture, Resigns as U.P.I. Reporter | date=2000-05-17 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2DF1F3BF934A25756C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print | work =The New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-07 | language = ]Less than two months later, she joined Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, writing on national affairs and the
White House .Bush administration
Traditionally, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences, but according to Thomas in a 2006 "
Daily Show " interview, this ended because she no longer represents awire service . Thomas has since been moved to the back row during press conferences, although she still sits in the front row during press briefings. She is called upon at briefings on a daily basis but no longer ends Presidential news conferences saying "Thank you, Mr. President". When asked why she is now seated in the back row, she said, "Because they don't like me... I ask too many questions." [ [http://www.campusprogress.org/features/779/five-minutes-with-helen-thomas Five Minutes With: Helen Thomas] ,2006-02-28 .]On
March 21 ,2006 , Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years. Thomas asked Bush about thewar in Iraq :Bush responded by discussing the overall "
war on terror ", and stated as a reason for the invasion, thatSaddam Hussein chose to deny inspectors and not to disclose. [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060321-4.html Press Conference of the President] , James S. Brady Briefing Room] Thomas was criticized by conservative commentators for her exchange with Bush. [ [http://mediamatters.org/items/200603270001 O'Reilly, others smear veteran journalist Helen Thomas over exchange with Bush] ]Thomas has publicly expressed her opinion about Bush. After a speech at a
Society of Professional Journalists banquet, she told an autograph-seeker who asked why she was sad, "I'm covering the worst president in American history." The autograph seeker was a sports writer for the "Daily Breeze " and her comments were published. After she was not called upon during a press conference for the first time in over four decades, she wrote to the president to apologize. [Ann McFeatters, "Thank You, Ms. Thomas", "Ms.", summer 2006.] She also told "The Hill" "The dayDick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself. All we need is another liar... I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does." [cite news | last=Eisele and Dufour | first=Albert and Jeff | title=Reporter: Cheney's not presidential material | date=28 July 2006 | publisher=The Hill | url=http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/072805.html]At a student journalism conference hosted by the
Center for American Progress onJune 2 ,2006 , Thomas opined that many journalists did not give accurate, critical reports on the Iraq War. She said she hopes for the return of hard reporting, and that the student audience should be "out on the street" in protest instead of sitting in the conference room.At the
July 18 ,2006 White House press briefing, Thomas remarked, "The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardment ofLebanon . We have that much control with the Israelis... we have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon andPalestine ." Press SecretaryTony Snow responded, "Thank you for theHezbollah view." [ [http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2006/07/tony_snow_on_lebanonnot_callin.html Tony Snow: On Lebanon-Not calling for cease fire if it leaves status quo intact] by Lynn Sweet.] According to Tom Shales, questions like the one above have sounded more like "tirades" and "anti-Israeli rhetoric". [Tom Shales. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/17/AR2008081702454.html A Story With a Few Holes] . Washignton Post. August 18, 2008] [Ruth Etzioni . "The Middle East: Thomas' Nostalgia Fro arafat Misplaed, Curious".Seattle Post-Intelligencer . June 27, 2007.] Greg Mitchell of "Editor & Publisher " described Shales' attack as "disturbing" and said he "offers no evidence". [Greg Mitchell, [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003840152 "Tom Shales Hits Helen Thomas -- Way Out of Line?"] , "Editor & Publisher ", August 18, 2008]On
July 12 ,2007 , Thomas accused President Bush of starting the Iraq War as his "war of choice" and insisted that he alone could end it anytime he wanted to by handing it over to theUnited Nations .Thomas has also been critical of the
United States Congress . At a question and answer session held atDrake University onSeptember 27 ,2007 , Thomas said that the "gutless wonder Congress doesn't have the courage to do what it needs to do" regarding the war.In a press conference on
30 November 2007 , Helen Thomas questionedDana Perino , the White House Press Secretary, as to why we should depend on General David Petraeus in determining when to redeploy U.S troops from Iraq. Ms. Perino began to answer when Thomas interjected with "You mean how many more people we kill?" Perino immediately took offense, responding, "Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a— it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive." [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071130-5.html] Press Briefing by Dana Perino and Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator" ]A
December 6 ,2007 CNN report byJeanne Moos showed video of a seating chart of reporters covering a press conference given by President Bush concerning reports of Iran not having pursued nuclear weapons since 2003. The spot for Thomas was crossed out with an X and she was never called upon. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/12/04/moos.president.press.follies.cnn CNN Video] ]Thomas developed a
stomach infection in May 2008, and has not appeared in press conferences or written her weekly column since. She is expected to recover and return to work.Awards
* In November 1976, Thomas was named one of the "25 Most Influential Women in America" by the
World Almanac .
* In 1986, Thomas was inducted into theMichigan Women's Hall of Fame .
* In 1989, TheMissouri School of Journalism awarded Thomas its Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
* In 1998, she received the International Women's Media Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
* Also in 1998, she was the first recipient of a prize established in her name by the White House Correspondents Association—the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award.
* In 2003, she was given an Intrepid Award by theNational Organization for Women . [ [http://www.now.org/organization/gala/2003/thomas.html NOW's First Annual Intrepid Awards Gala: Helen Thomas ] ]
* Also in 2003, she was given the Friend of Freedom Award by theFreedom From Religion Foundation . [ [http://ffrf.org/awards/special/2003_thomas.php Friend of Freedom Award ] ]
* OnMay 25 ,2006 , Thomas was inducted into theMichigan Walk of Fame in downtownLansing, Michigan . [ [http://www.michiganwalkoffame.org/helenthomas.asp Michigan Walk of Fame: Located in Downtown Lansing ] ]
* OnMay 20 ,2007 , Thomas received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters fromSiena College inLoudonville, New York .
* OnMay 17 ,2008 , Thomas received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters fromWashington & Jefferson College inWashington, Pennsylvania .
* OnMay 24 ,2008 , Thomas received an honorary Doctor of Journalism fromMcDaniel College inWestminster, Maryland . [ [http://www.mcdaniel.edu/8738.htm McDaniel celebrates 138th Commencement ] ]Appearances in other media
* Thomas appeared in a cameo in the 1993 movie "Dave" and also uncredited in
The American President .
* "The Final Days", President Clinton's 2000 parody of his own waning term of office, features Thomas among otherpundit s and White House staffers. Clinton makes a major policy speech to the White House press corps only to find the briefing room empty except for a snoozing Thomas who, awakened, impatiently asks him, "Are you still here?" (Complete clip: [http://www.pocketmovies.net/detail_66.html] )
* Thomas was featured in the "audition tape" made byStephen Colbert for the position of Press Secretary. The segment was shown after Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. After Colbert deflects a number of questions from other journalists, Thomas begins asking her question regarding theIraq war . This sends a panicked Colbert to the streets, where he is stalked by Thomas all the way toNew York City . Widely distributed online, a portion of the clip later aired on Colbert's show "The Colbert Report " onComedy Central onMay 2 ,2006 .
* She has also appeared in an episode of The West Wing.
* Thomas was interviewed onEnough Rope as part of the Elders series conducted byAndrew Denton . The interview provided an intimate portrait of the life of Helen Thomas [ [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s2296751.htm ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 175: Elders Part 4 - Helen Thomas (07/07/2008) ] ] .
* "Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House" (2008) (TV). Biographical documentary on Helen Thomas, centered on her years on the White House Press Corps, directed by Rory Kennedy (daughter of RFK). imdb title|id=1239460|title=Thank You, Mr. President.Notes
Bibliography
* "Watchdogs of Democracy? : The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public" (
Scribner , 2006) ISBN 0-7432-6781-8
* "Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President : Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House" (Scribner, 2003) ISBN 0-7432-0226-0
* "Front Row at the White House : My Life and Times" (Scribner, 2000) ISBN 0-684-86809-1
* "Dateline: White House" (Macmillan, 1975) ISBN 0-02-617620-3External links
*
* [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20031013/thomas "Truth, Fear and War"] , speech by Thomas, September 13, 2003.
* [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200602/calling.helen.thomas.htm "Calling Helen Thomas"] in "Saudi Aramco World" (Vol. 57, No. 2), which discusses Thomas impact on younger Arab-American journalists.
* [http://www.maniacworld.com/Helen_Thomas_Mad_at_George_Bush_Telling_Lies.htm Helen Thomas confronts Washington officials on the legality of wire tapping]
* [http://rl.tv/OurShows/EncorewithJohnPalmer/Talk2HelenThomas/tabid/667/Default.aspx John Palmer interview with Helen Thomas]
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