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 think Obama is handling his image very well, but I think he lacks boldness.
I think I'll work all my life. When you're having fun, why stop having fun?
I love my work, and I think that I was so lucky to pick a profession where it's a joy to go to work every day.
I covered two presidents, LBJ and Nixon, who could no longer convince, persuade, or govern, once people had decided they had no credibility, but we seem to be more tolerant now of what I think we should not tolerate.
I think that presidents deserve to be questioned. Maybe irreverently, most of the time. Bring 'em down a size. You see a president, ask a question. You have one chance in the barrel. Don't blow it.
Everyone with a cell phone thinks they're a photographer. Everyone with a laptop thinks they're a journalist. But they have no training, and they have no idea of what we keep to in terms of standards, as in what's far out and what's reality. And they have no dedication to truth.
I never thought about heaven per se. I think when you're dead, you're dead. If anything happens after that, you just hope you don't go to hell.
I don't think there are any rude questions.
Every president thinks that all information that comes to the White House is their private preserve after they all promise an open administration on the campaign trail, but some are more secretive than others. Some want to lock down everything.
I don't think a tough question is disrespectful.
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.