Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas
Helen Amelia Thomaswas an American author and news service reporter, member of the White House press corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press Internationalfor 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager. She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House. She covered the administrations of eleven U.S. presidents—from the final years of the Eisenhower administration to...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth4 August 1920
CityWinchester, KY
CountryUnited States of America
I've never seen an administration that was more secretive.
I suppose that's democracy really. But everybody with a laptop thinks they're a journalist these days. That's a problem.
It's like I say to young people who ask me about going into journalism: If you want to be loved, don't go into this business.
Many voters think about the makeup of the Supreme Court when they are choosing a president. The justices deal not only with constitutional issues but also with social issues that were unknown to the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution more than 200 years ago.
You don't spread democracy with a barrel of a gun.
United Press International is a great news agency. It has made a remarkable mark in the annals of American journalism and has left a superb legacy for future journalists. I wish the new owners all the best, great stories and happy landings.
To my mind, a president should care about all people, and he didn't, which is why I will always feel Reagan lacked soul.
Great presidents take stands, and they fight off these people who really are so far to the right. I don't want to call them names, even though they would call me names.
Clinton is the first female to be taken seriously for the highest office in the land. She has the credentials, the stamina and she is a good campaigner. Her detractors in both parties like to say she can't win, but they may be proven wrong.
We have organized lobbyists in favor of Israel. You can't open your mouth. I can call the president of the United States anything in the book, but if you say one thing about Israel, and you're off limits.
The presidency awed me, but presidents do not. Perhaps I have always expected too much of them, but I believe that when they reach the highest office in the land, they should live up to the greatest honor that can come to a person in American political life. Some have stood the test better than others.
We won't really know what will happen until it happens.
Presidents hate the press. They hate me most of the time.
I've never covered the president in any way other than that he is ultimately responsible.