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Helen Thomas

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Helen Thomas (1976)

Helen Thomas (born August 4, 1920) is an American news service reporter, a Hearst Newspapers columnist, and member of the White House Press Corps. She served for fifty-seven years as a correspondent and, later, White House bureau chief for United Press International (UPI). Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and, in 1975, the first female member of the Gridiron Club. She has written four books; her latest is 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 Christian immigrants[1] from Tripoli, Lebanon, which at the time was part of Syria.[2] She was brought up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne University (now Wayne State University), graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1942. Thomas' first job in journalism 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 radio wire service. Later in the decade, and in the early fifties, she wrote their "Names in the News" column, for which she interviewed numerous Washington celebrities.[3] After 1955, she covered federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Thomas served as president of the Women's National Press Club from 1959–60.

Presidential correspondent

Thomas and Gerald Ford, 1976 (Dick Cheney on the far left)

In November 1960, Thomas began covering then President-elect John F. Kennedy, following him to the White 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 to China 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, and George 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 by Unification Church leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon. She later described the change in ownership as "a bridge too far".[4][5]

Less than two months later, she joined Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, writing on national affairs and the White House.

Bush administration

Thomas has publicly expressed her opinion about President George W. 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 that she was not called upon, during a press conference, for the first time in over four decades. She wrote to the president to apologize.[6] She also told The Hill, "The day Dick 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."[7]

Traditionally, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences. However, according to Thomas in a 2006 Daily Show interview, this ended because she no longer represented a wire service. During the Bush administration, Thomas was moved to the back row during press conferences; she still sat in the front row during press briefings. She was called upon at briefings on a daily basis but no longer ended Presidential news conferences saying, "Thank you, Mr. President". When asked why she was seated in the back row, she said, "Because they don't like me...I ask too many questions."[8]

On March 21, 2006, Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years. Thomas asked Bush about the War in Iraq:

"I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet...your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth...what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil...quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?"

Bush responded by discussing the War on Terror, and stated as a reason for the invasion that Saddam Hussein chose to deny inspectors and not to disclose required information.[9] Thomas was criticized by some commentators for her exchange with Bush.[10]

At a student journalism conference hosted by the Center for American Progress on June 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" doing hard reporting instead of sitting in the conference room.[citation needed]

At the July 18, 2006, White House press briefing, Thomas remarked, "The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis... we have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine." Press Secretary Tony Snow responded, "Thank you for the Hezbollah view."[11] Other members of the press weighed in. According to Washington Post television critic Tom Shales, questions like the one above have sounded more like "tirades" and "anti-Israeli rhetoric".[12][13] Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher described Shales' attack as "disturbing" and said Shales "offers no evidence".[14]

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 the United Nations.

In a press conference on November 30, 2007, Thomas questioned White House Press Secretary Dana Perino as to why Americans should depend on General David Petraeus in determining when to re-deploy U.S troops from Iraq. 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, the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive."[15]

A December 4, 2007, CNN report by Jeanne 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.[16]

Obama administration

On February 9, 2009 Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected President Obama's news conference regarding the federal bailout bill. President Obama called on her with the statement "Helen. I'm excited, this is my inaugural moment."[17] This was seemingly a reference to her long-term presence in the White House Press Corps.[18] Thomas asked the new president if any Middle Eastern country possessed nuclear weapons and whether Pakistan was maintaining safehavens in Afghanistan for "these so-called terrorists."

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 0-02-617620-3

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Helen Thomas, Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times, Scribner, 2000, page 17.
  3. ^ Helen Thomas, Dateline: White House. Macmillan, 1975, page xiii.
  4. ^ Winter, Greg (2000-07-10). "Helen Thomas Is Back as a Columnist With Hearst". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-04-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Stout, David (2000-05-17). "Helen Thomas, Washington Fixture, Resigns as U.P.I. Reporter". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ McFeatters, Ann (summer 2006). "Thank You, Ms. Thomas". Ms. Feminist Majority Foundation. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Eisele, Albert (2006-07-28). "Reporter: Cheney's Not Presidential Material". The Hill. Fran McMahon. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Five Minutes With: Helen Thomas". Campus Progress. Center for American Progress. 2006-02-28. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Press Conference of the President". Office of the Press Secretary. The White House. 2006-03-21. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Millican, Julie (2006-03-27). "O'Reilly, others smear veteran journalist Helen Thomas over exchange with Bush". Media Matters. Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Sweet, Lynn (2006-07-18). "Tony Snow: On Lebanon-Not calling for cease fire if it leaves status quo intact". Lynn Sweet: The scoop from Washington. Chicago Sun-Times, Sun-Times News Group. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Shales, Tom (2008-08-18). "A Story With a Few Holes". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Etzioni, Ruth (2007-06-27). "Letter to the Editor: The Middle East: Thomas' Nostalgia for Arafat Misplaced, Curious". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Mitchell, Greg (2008-08-18). "Tom Shales Hits Helen Thomas -- Way Out of Line?". Editor & Publisher. VNU Business Media. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Press Briefing by Dana Perino and Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator". Office of the Press Secretary. The White House. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Moos, Jeanne (2007-12-04). "Presidential press follies". Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved 2008-11-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ NBC News, February 9, 2009
  18. ^ New Media Breaks in, but Tradition Lives On, Jeff Zeleny, New York Times, February 10, 2009
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