FamedWhite House journalist Helen Thomas has died at the age of 92.
The
Gridiron Club and Foundation, a journalistic organization in
Washington, D.C., confirmed Thomas' passing to NBC News on Saturday.
Thomas
died on Saturday morning at her Washington apartment after a long
illness, the club said in a statement. A former president of the
Gridiron Club, Thomas broke a long line of all-male leadership when
she was chosen for the position in 1993.
Thejournalist who scored a front-row seat at White House press briefings
after years of reporting for wire services had been in and out of the
hospital recently, a friend, Muriel Dobbin, told the Associated Press. The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Thomas had grown up in
Detroit before moving to Washington, D.C., where she broke several
barriers for female correspondents.
Known
for her persistent style of questioning, Thomas was most recognized
for her work with United Press International, and covered nine
presidents over her long career. She started as a copy girl at the
Washington Daily News, moving to what was then called the United Press in 1943.
She
spent her last 10 years in journalism writing a column for Hearstnewspapers, a post she retired from in 2010 after she was caught on a
videotape saying that Israel should “get the hell out of
Palestine.” Her comments spread quickly on the Internet, and Thomas
announced that she would retire shortly before her 90th birthday.
In
a statement issued later, Thomas said she regretted her comments:
“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.”
A
49-year veteran of the White House press, Thomas was known for
getting the last word at presidential news conferences: “Thank you,
Mr. President.”
She
saw the nation's leaders at their best and worst from her front-row
seat to the executive branch.
“I
have witnessed presidents in situations of great triumph and
adulation, when they are riding the crest of personal fulfillment,
and I have seen them fall off their pedestals through an abuse of
power or what President Clinton called ‘a lapse of critical
judgment,'” Thomas wrote in her memoir.
Her
husband, The Associated Press’ Douglas Cornell, died in 1982.
Source:
nbcnews
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