Helen Thomas | |
|---|---|
 Thomas in 2000 | |
| Born | Helen Amelia Thomas (1920-08-04)August 4, 1920 Winchester, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 20, 2013(2013-07-20) (aged 92) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Alma mater | Wayne State University (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1943–2013 |
| Known for | Pioneering female reporter; first female member of the White House press corps |
| Spouse | |
Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013)[1] was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of theWhite House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of tenU.S. presidents—from the beginning of theKennedy administration to the second year of theObama administration.
Thomas worked for theUnited Press and post-1958 successorUnited Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later asWhite House bureau manager. She then served as a columnist forHearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House. Thomas was the first female officer of theNational Press Club, the first female member and president of theWhite House Correspondents' Association and the first female member of theGridiron Club. She wrote six books; her last (with co-authorCraig Crawford) wasListen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009).
Thomas retired from Hearst Newspapers on June 7, 2010, following controversial remarks she made aboutIsrael in an impromptu, unstructured amateur short interview when solicited for "any comments onIsrael," she replied, "tell them to get the hell out ofPalestine."[2] She then served as an opinion columnist for theFalls Church News-Press until February 2012.[3]
Born inWinchester, Kentucky, Thomas was the seventh of the nine children of George and Mary (Rowady) Thomas, immigrants fromTripoli, Lebanon (then part of theOttoman Empire).[4][5][6] Thomas said her father's surname, "Antonious", wasanglicized to "Thomas" when he entered the U.S. atEllis Island,[5] and that her parents could neither read nor write.[4] Thomas was raised mainly inDetroit,Michigan, where her family moved when she was four years old, and where her father ran a grocery store.[5][7] Of her experience growing up, Thomas said:
We were never hyphenated as Arab-Americans. We were American, and I have always rejected the hyphen and I believe all assimilated immigrants should not be designated ethnically. Or separated, of course, by race, or creed either. These are trends that ever try to divide us as a people.[8]
She also said that in Detroit in the 1920s, she came home crying from school, "They wanted to make you feel you weren't 'American'... We were called 'garlic eaters' ".[7] She was a member of theAntiochian Orthodox Church.[5]
Thomas attended Detroit Public Schools, and decided to become a journalist while attendingEastern High School.[9] She enrolled atWayne University in Detroit, receiving abachelor's degree in English in 1942,[10] as the school did not yet offer a degree in journalism.[11]
Thomas moved toWashington, D.C. Her first job injournalism was as acopygirl for the now-defunctWashington Daily News. After eight months at the paper, she joined with her colleagues in astrike action and was fired.[11]
Thomas joinedUnited Press in 1943 and reported on women's topics for its radiowire service.[12][13] Her first assignments focused her on societal issues, women's news and celebrity profiles.[14] Later in the decade, and in the early fifties, she wrote UP'sNames in the News column, for which she interviewed numerous Washington celebrities.[15] In 1955, she was assigned to cover theUnited States Department of Justice. She later was assigned to cover other agencies, including theUnited States Department of Health, as well asCapitol Hill.[1]
Thomas served as president of theWomen's National Press Club from 1959 through 1960.[1] In 1959, she and a few of her fellow female journalists forced theNational Press Club, then barred to women, to allow them to attend an address by Soviet leaderNikita Khrushchev.[14]
In November 1960, Thomas began covering thenPresident-electJohn F. Kennedy, taking the initiative to switch from reporting the "women's angle" to reporting the news of the day.[16] She became a White House correspondent for UPI in January 1961. Thomas became known as the "Sitting Buddha," and the "First Lady of the Press."[17] It was during Kennedy's administration that she began ending presidentialpress conferences with a signature "Thank you, Mr. President,"[18] reviving a tradition started by UPI'sAlbert Merriman Smith during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.[19]
In a 2008 article,The Christian Science Monitor wrote: "Thomas, a fixture in American politics, is outspoken, blunt, demanding, forceful and unrelenting. Not only does she command respect by the highest powers in the US, her reputation is known worldwide."[20] When Cuban leaderFidel Castro was asked in the early 2000s what was the difference between democracy inCuba and democracy in the United States, Castro reportedly replied, "I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas." Thomas considered Castro's reply to be "the height of flattery."[21]
In 1962, Thomas convinced President Kennedy not to attend the annual dinners held for the White House correspondents and photographers if they disallowed women from attending. President Kennedy moved for the dinners to be combined into one event, with women allowed to attend. In 1970, UPI named Thomas their chief White House correspondent, making her the first woman to serve in the position. She was named the chief of UPI's White House bureau in 1974.[1]
Thomas was the only female print journalist to accompany PresidentRichard Nixon during his1972 visit to China.[22] During theWatergate scandal,Martha Mitchell, wife ofUnited States Attorney GeneralJohn N. Mitchell, frequently called Thomas to discuss how the Nixon administration was using Mitchell as a scapegoat.[14]
Thomas circled the globe several times, traveling with every U.S. president from Richard Nixon throughBarack Obama. She covered everyEconomic Summit since1975, working up to the position of UPI's White House Bureau Chief, a post she would hold for over 25 years. While serving as White House Bureau Chief, she authored a regular column for UPI, "Backstairs at the White House."[23] The column provided an insider's view of various presidential administrations.
In 1975, the Washington Press Corps club, known as theGridiron Club, admitted Thomas, making her the first woman to become a member. From 1975 through 1976, she served as the first female president of theWhite House Correspondents' Association.[1]
Thomas was the only member of the White House Press Corps to have her own seat in theWhite House Briefing Room.[24] All other seats are assigned to media outlets.[24]
In 1979, theSupersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Thomas's name and picture.[25]
On May 17, 2000, the day after it was announced that theUPI had been acquired byNews World Communications Inc., an international media conglomerate founded and controlled byUnification Church leaderReverend Sun Myung Moon which ownsThe Washington Times and other news media, Thomas resigned from the UPI after 57 years with the organization.[26] She later described the change in ownership as "a bridge too far."[26][27] Less than two months later, she joinedHearst Newspapers as an opinion columnist, writing on national affairs and the White House.[28]
After leaving her job as a reporter at the UPI, Thomas became more likely to air her personal, negative views. In a speech at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, she quipped, "I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, 'Who do I hate today?'"[29]
During PresidentGeorge W. Bush's first term, Thomas reacted to Press SecretaryAri Fleischer's statements about arms shipments to the terrorists by asking: "Where do the Israelis get their arms?"
He responded: "There's a difference, Helen, and that is—"
"What is the difference?" she asked.
He responded: "The targeting of innocents through the use of terror, which is a common enemy forYasser Arafat and for the people ofIsrael, as well as—"
She interrupted him, saying: "Palestinian people are fighting for their land."
He responded: "I think that the killing of innocents is a category entirely different. Justifying killing of innocents for land is an argument in support of terrorism."[30]
In January 2003, following a speech at aSociety of Professional Journalists banquet, Thomas told an autograph seeker, "I'm covering the worst president in American history." The autograph-seeker was a sports writer forThe 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.[31]
For many years, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences. However, according to Thomas in a 2006Daily Show interview, this ended because she no longer represented awire service.[32] During the Bush administration, Thomas was moved to the back row during press conferences; she was called upon at briefings on a daily basis but no longer ended presidential news conferences by saying, "Thank you, Mr. President." When asked why she was seated in the back row, she said, "They didn't like me. . . . I ask too many mean questions."[33]
On March 21, 2006, Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years. Thomas asked Bush about theWar in Iraq:
I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, [about] your decision to invade Iraq . . . 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? . . . 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 thewar on terror, stating as a reason for the invasion thatSaddam Hussein chose todeny inspectors and not to disclose required information.[34]
In July 2006, she toldThe Hill, "The dayDick Cheney is going to run for president, I'llkill 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."[35]
At the July 18, 2006, White House press briefing, Thomas remarked: "The United States . . . 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 SecretaryTony Snow responded: "Thank you for theHezbollah view."[36]
In a press conference on November 30, 2007, Thomas questioned White House Press SecretaryDana Perino as to why Americans should depend on GeneralDavid 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.[37]
Refusing to back down, Thomas responded immediately by asking Perino if she knew how many innocent Iraqis had been killed and then questioned the worth of regret when Perino responded that the administration regretted the loss of all innocent Iraqi lives.[38]
On February 9, 2009, Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected PresidentObama's first news conference. President Obama called on her with the statement, "Helen. I'm excited, this is my inaugural moment,"[40] seemingly a reference to her long-term presence in theWhite House Press Corps.[41] Thomas asked if he knew of any Middle Eastern country that possessednuclear weapons, implicitly asking him to confirm or deny Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal, despite Israel's long held stance of "nuclear ambiguity". Obama replied that he did not want to "speculate" on the matter.
On July 1, 2009, Thomas commented on the Obama administration's handling of the press, "we have had some control but not this control. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you have controlled...".[42][43][44]
On August 4, 2009, Thomas celebrated her 89th birthday. President Obama, whose birthday is on the same day, presented Thomas with birthday cupcakes and sangHappy Birthday to her before that day's press conference.[45]
Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com, on the White House grounds with his son and a teenage friend[46] for a May 27, 2010, American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day,[47] interviewed Thomas for an unscheduled short conversation as she was leaving the White House via theNorth Lawn driveway.[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] When solicited for "any comments onIsrael," she replied, "tell them to get the hell out ofPalestine" and: "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. Not German [sic], it's not Poland." Then he asked: "Where they should go? What do they do?". To which she responded: "They go home." He follows-up with: "Where's the home?". She replies back with "Poland, .." but in the middle of her answer, he adds to his question: "So the Jews..", she adds: "...Germany." He finishes off: "...should go back to Poland and Germany?" To which she finally responds: "And America and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries? See?" An about two-minutes long full cut of the May 27, 2010, interview was posted on Nesenoff's YouTube channel on June 7.[52]
In a later interview onCNN, onThe Joy Behar Show, Thomas defended her comments. In response to Behar's question of whether she was an antisemite, Thomas replied: "Hell no! I'm aSemite, of Arab background." She then said of Israelis: "They're not Semites."[57]
In addition, Thomas said in theCNN interview: "Why do they [Jews] have to go anywhere? They aren't being persecuted! They don't have the right to take other people's land."[57][58] When asked if she regretted the comment, she said: "We have organized lobbyists in favor of Israel, you can't open your mouth. I can call thepresident of the United States anything in the book, but you say one thing about Israel and you're off limits."[57]
Following the controversy, The Executive Committee of theSociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ) voted to recommend that the organization retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement, which had been awarded since 2000. After her initial comments, the committee decided not to act, as it was "a one-time, spontaneous remark for which she apologized", but acted after she reiterated it.[59][60] The initial decision by SPJ leadership to terminate the award went through two votes by larger SPJ bodies (the overall Executive Review committee, followed by a forum at the SPJ Convention that year) which both voted to uphold the award being ended.
On June 4, Thomas posted the following response on her website: "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."[61][62][63]
Thomas's agency, Nine Speakers, Inc., immediately dropped her as a client because of her remarks.[64][65] In a statement, they said "Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond. However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East."[66]Craig Crawford, who co-authoredListen up, Mr. President, said "I ... will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects."[67] Her scheduled delivery of a commencement speech atWalt Whitman High School inBethesda,Maryland, was canceled by the school.[68] TheWhite House Correspondents' Association, over which she once presided, issued a statement calling her remarks "indefensible".[69] In January 2011, theSociety of Professional Journalists voted to retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement.[49][70]
On June 7, Thomas abruptly tendered her resignation from Hearst Newspapers.[49] The next day, in an interview onNBC'sToday Show, President Obama called her remarks "offensive" and "out of line" and said her retirement was "the right decision." He remarked that it was a "shame" her celebrated career had to end in such controversy, and at the same time he recognized her long service covering U.S. presidents, calling her "a real institution in Washington".[71] Her comments also garnered rebukes from numerous others, including White House Press SecretaryRobert Gibbs, former White House Press SecretaryAri Fleischer, former special counsel to and White House spokesman for PresidentBill Clinton,Lanny Davis, former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee and Hoover Institution senior fellowVictor Davis Hanson.[61][72][73][74]
Thomas did have defenders who felt she was being attacked too harshly, including former presidential candidateRalph Nader,Fox News contributorEllen Ratner, former UPI managing editor Michael Freedman andThe Nation editor and publisherKatrina vanden Heuvel. Nader said there was a "double standard" where one "off-hand 'ill-conceived remark'" (quotingNPR ombudsmanAlicia Shepard) ended Helen Thomas' career while "ultra-right wing radio andcable ranters" engaged in "bigotry, stereotypes and falsehoods directed wholesale against Muslims, including a blatantantisemitism against Arabs" keep getting rewarded with "enhanced careers and fat lecture fees."[75]
In an October 2010 radio interview with Scott Spears ofWMRN, Thomas said she realized soon after making the comments that she would be fired, stating, "I hit thethird rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive." She added that she issued an apology because people were upset, but that ultimately, she still "had the same feelings aboutIsrael's aggression and brutality."[76][77]
On December 2, 2010, shortly before a speech for the eighth annual "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference inDearborn, Michigan, Thomas told reporters that she still stood by the comments she had made to Nesenoff. Referring to her resignation, she said "I paid a price, but it's worth it to speak the truth."[78][79][80] During the speech, Thomas said: "Congress, theWhite House,Hollywood andWall Street are owned byZionists. No question, in my opinion."[78][81] Thomas defended her comments on December 7, telling Scott Spears ofMarion, Ohio radio station WMRN, "I just think that people should be enlightened as to who is in charge of the opinion in this country."[82]
The next day, theAnti-Defamation League called for journalism schools and organizations to rescind any honors given to Thomas. The organization said that Thomas had "clearly, unequivocally revealed herself as a vulgar antisemite" in the speech.[83]Wayne State University inDetroit discontinued the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award, which it had been granting for more than ten years, citing what it called her antisemitic remarks.[78] Thomas objected, saying that "the leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press."[84] Asked by theDetroit Free Press how she would respond to people who say she is antisemitic, Thomas responded: 'I'd say I'm a Semite. What are you talking about?'"[85]
Thomas was interviewed for the April 2011 issue ofPlayboy magazine, and made further contentious statements.[86] When asked "Do you actually think there’s a secret Jewish conspiracy at work in this country [the US]?", Thomas replied, "Not a secret. It’s very open."[86]
Thomas was employed as a columnist by the VirginiaFalls Church News-Press from January 2011 to January 2012, contributing a few sporadic columns in the free weekly paper.[87] Owner-EditorNicholas Benton repeatedly defended the decision to hire her despite her comments.[88] He said in 2011 that he was "outraged" when the Society of Professional Journalists voted on retiring a scholarship award named for Thomas.[89] Benton defended Thomas from antisemitism by saying that Thomas "is herself a Semite" and was "expressing a political point of view [in the interview with Nesenoff above], and not a bigoted racial sentiment."[90]
Thomas described herself as aliberal.[14] For most of her adult life, she chose her work over her personal life.[91] At age 51, Thomas married a colleague, Douglas Cornell, who was just retiring as the White House reporter for theAssociated Press.[11] Four years later, he was diagnosed withAlzheimer's disease, and she cared for him until his death in 1982.[91]
Thomas died on July 20, 2013, at her home in Washington, D.C. at the age of 92.[92][93] Thomas was cremated and her ashes are buried in Detroit, following a traditional Antiochian Orthodox funeral service.
Many female journalists memorialized Thomas on Twitter, includingJudy Woodruff, who called her a "trailblazer", andLynn Sweet, who said she was a "glass ceiling breaking journalist".[94]Andrea Mitchell tweeted that Thomas "made it possible for all of us who followed."[95]
Dana Perino, who served as press secretary to President George W. Bush, remembered that on her first day as press secretary, Thomas approached her to give her words of encouragement.[94] President Obama released a statement calling her "a true pioneer" who "never failed to keep presidents—myself included—on their toes."[96]
In 2006, Thomas encouraged Arab-Americans to become journalists: "For her own part, Helen Thomas says that, while she’s glad to see Americans of Arab descent winning journalism prizes, she would prefer simply to see more bylines with Arab names. So she has one instruction for newcomers: 'Get into the game!' she says."[97]
Thomas received numerous awards and more than 30 honorary degrees. In 1976, Thomas was named one of theWorld Almanac's 25 Most Influential Women in America.[98] In 1985, she received the Columbia University Journalism Award.[99] and in 1984 was honored with the National Press Club Fourth Estate Award.[100] In 2000, Thomas was presented with the Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award.[101]
In 1986 she received theWilliam Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit from theUniversity of Kansas.[18] In 1993, Thomas won theWalter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.[102] Thomas received anAl Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media from theFreedom Forum in 1991. TheWhite House Correspondents' Association honored her in 1998 by establishing the "Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award". In 2000, her alma mater,Wayne State University, established an award for journalists in her honor, the "Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award".[103] In December 2010, the award was discontinued by Wayne State which cited her renewed remarks similar to those in May 2010. Speaking for Wayne State,Matthew Seeger, its interim dean said, that the award is given to promote the importance of diversity in the media and that this award "is no longer helping us achieve our goals."[104] In 2007, Thomas received a Foremother Award from theNational Center for Health Research.[105]
In October 2010, theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) honored Thomas with a lifetime achievement award.[106][107]
In April 2012, Thomas received an award from thePalestine Liberation Organization's General Mission to the United States. The award was presented by PLO Executive Committee memberHanan Ashrawi to "recognize Thomas's long career in the field of journalism, during which she defended the Palestinian position every step of the way."[108]
TheSociety of Professional Journalists had an annual award for top journalists named after Thomas but decided to retire the award in 2011. The SPJ executive board initially said it would keep the award after Thomas's May 2010 comments calling for Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to "Europe, Russia and America," but the board decided to retire the award after Thomas's remarks later in 2010 about the alleged control of the United States by Zionists. Several pro-Thomas individuals in SPJ leadership roles campaigned to have the award reinstated, but the retirement decision was upheld by SPJ's regional leadership that year and by an 85-77 margin at the national SPJ convention, also that year, marking the permanent end of any ties between Thomas and SPJ.[109][110]
I was born in Winchester on August 4, 1920, the seventh of nine surviving children -- Katharine, Anne, Matry, Sabe, Isabelle, Josephine, myself, Barbara and Genevieve. My older brother Tommy was killed when he was twelve in a terrible accident when... A wall... collapsed on the roof of the theater during a blizzard, killing 115 people inside.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)A plaque on each seat displays the name of the news organization to which it is assigned, except for one. Front and center is a chair reserved for Helen Thomas, a matriarch of the White House Press Corps that has covered every President since John F. Kennedy.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
