Monday 22 July 2013
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 Helen Thomas, the grand dame of the White House press corps, has passed away at the age of 92. Thomas, who worked the White House beat for 49 years for United Press International and Hearst newspapers, died on Saturday at her home in Washington after a long illness, the Gridiron Club and Foundation announced in a statement. Thomas, who covered 10 U.S. presidents, had been a fixture at presidential press conferences for decades and was often allowed to ask the first question. She would rise from her front-row seat at White House press conferences to end the meetings with the familiar phrase "Thank you, Mr. President." Thomas was famous for her difficult questions and was regarded as a pioneer for women in journalism. "Helen was a true pioneer, opening doors and breaking down barriers for generations of women in journalism," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement. "She covered every White House since President Kennedy's, and during that time she never failed to keep presidents -- myself included -- on their toes." During his last decade in power, Fidel Castro was asked to define the difference between democracy in Cuba and the United States. "I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas," the revolutionary leader wryly retorted. Thomas, who was the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, was born in Winchester, Kentucky in 1920 but raised in Detroit, Michigan. She joined United Press International in 1943. Thomas was assigned to cover then President-elect John F. Kennedy in late 1960. Kennedy once said of her: "Helen would be a nice girl if she'd ever get rid of that pad and pencil." In June 2010, Thomas was forced to resign from Hearst Newspapers after saying the Israelis should leave the occupied territories of Palestine. She handed in her resignation on June 7, one week after saying, "Tell them (Israelis) to get the hell out of Palestine." She made the remarks in a conversation with a rabbi with a video camera at a White House event held to commemorate Jewish Heritage Month. "Remember these people are occupied and it's their land, not German and not Poland," she said. "They can go home, Poland, Germany, and America and everywhere else." However, the veteran reporter later expressed regret over the comments, saying that "they do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance." Thomas worked as a correspondent for UPI for 57 years from 1943 to 2000. She then joined Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, covering national affairs and the White House. United Press International was purchased in May 2000 by News World Communications, the media corporation of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. The day after the sale, Helen Thomas resigned as the news agency's White House correspondent after having worked for UPI for 57 years. Thomas was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and first female president of the White House Correspondents Association, and, in 1975, became the first female member of the Gridiron Club. Her husband, Douglas Cornell, died in 1982. (Source: Press TV |
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