Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas is a reporter for the Hearst News Service, dean of the White House press corps, a White House correspondent, and King Features Syndicate columnist. Thomas has covered every President of the United States since JFK. Perhaps her most famous historical quote is "Thank you Mister President." This is how practically every presidential news conference was traditionally ended for over 40 years, from Kennedy to Clinton, and the honor was reserved for Helen Thomas to say. In 2003, the George W. Bush Administration put an end to this tradition.

Sourced

• This is the worst President ever. He is the worst President in all of American history.
  • about George W. Bush, said in Los Angeles while at a Society for Professional Journalism banquet event.
  • published in an article by John Bogert in the Torrance, California Daily Breeze January 19 2003.
  • According to Thomas this was supposed to be off the record. The reporter (assumedly Bogert) asked for her autograph after she spoke at the event. As she signed his copy of her book, he said to her, "You look sad?" She responded by saying "Well I am. I'm covering the worst president..."
    • Interview by Adam Holdorf for realchangenews.org, March 18, 2004

• The White House used to belong to the American people. At least that's what I learned from history books and from covering every president starting with John F. Kennedy. But now the 201-year-old Executive Mansion belongs only to a select, elitist group of people, including top government officials, members of Congress and the press corps. They and some others, all of whom are screened in advance, are welcome. But most people are not — not anymore.
  • Hearst newspaper column, November 28, 2001.

• At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up... My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? ...
  • White House briefing, January 6, 2003.

• All presidents rail against the press. It goes with the turf.
  • Hearst newspaper column, October 15, 2003.

• I don’t speechify. I know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And that’s what I ask. But they get mad at the straight line. I just want to ask a tough question.
  • Interview by Adam Holdorf for realchangenews.org, March 18, 2004

• ...it took a lot of chutzpah on the part of a lot of newspaper women who came here in the twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties to break down the barriers against women reporters. And we couldn’t even become members of the National Press Corps until 1971 — that’s pretty late in the game. We got the vote, which we should’ve been born with, in 1920. Everything we’ve had to struggle for — it’s ridiculous.
  • Interview by Adam Holdorf for realchangenews.org, March 18, 2004

• We've got to break through the wall of secrecy. It's America's fate.
  • Phone interview on The Majority Report, April 2, 2004

• It's the arrogance of power. 'We're in charge. It's our White House. What the hell are you doing here?' Basically toward the Press. 'How dare you question anything we do?' They don't understand that the presidential news conference is the only forum in our society where a president can be questioned. If he's not questioned, he can rule by edict; by government order. He can be a monarch. He can be a dictator, and who is to find out? No. He should be questioned and he should always be able to willingly reply and answer to all questions because these aren't our questions. They're the people's questions.
  • Phone interview on The Majority Report, April 2, 2004

• Every President hates the Press. 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 even more secretive than others. Some want to lock down everything.
  • Phone interview on The Majority Report, April 2, 2004

• Both Blair and Bush have been found lacking in their credibility. Usually by this time a government would have fallen. 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.
  • Phone interview on The Majority Report, April 2, 2004

• Well it wasn't a formal hanging. It was kind of subtle. I had covered him ...his first press conference. He dropped down into the press room and started taking questions and everyone asked about the tax cut and I sort of — Ari Fleischer later told me I blindsided him because I said to him 'Mister President, why don't you respect the wall of separation between church and state?' Well, there's a video of him that is so funny. He jerked back as if he had been hit! I mean both barrels! And he said 'I do respect-' I said 'well if you did, why would you have a religious office in the White House?' (I'm exagerrating, but anyway) and 'you're a secular official.' And he said 'I am secular.' Well anyway I got a call from Ari after that. After that there was a formal news conference and I did ask him a Middle East question and it wasn't the question per se. They just don't like my boorishness.
  • Phone interview on The Majority Report, April 2, 2004

• Get into the game!
  • Advice to up-and-coming journalists, quoted from "Calling Helen Thomas" in Saudi Aramco World (Vol. 57, No. 2) March/April 2006

• You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.
  • The Daily Show (June 27, 2006)

On Thomas

USA Today Reporter: What is the difference between your democracy and our democracy?

Fidel Castro: I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas.