Pioneering journalist Helen Thomas dies at 92

In this Aug. 4, 1995, file photo, President Clinton "interviews" UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas in the White House briefing room in Washington. Thomas, a pioneer for women in journalism and an irrepressible White House correspondent, has died Saturday, July 20, 2013. She was 92.
In this Aug. 4, 1995, file photo, President Clinton "interviews" UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas in the White House briefing room in Washington. Thomas, a pioneer for women in journalism and an irrepressible White House correspondent, has died Saturday, July 20, 2013. She was 92.

WASHINGTON — Helen Thomas, a pioneer for women in journalism and an irrepressible White House correspondent, has died. She was 92.

A friend, Muriel Dobbin, says Thomas died at her apartment in Washington on Saturday morning. Dobbin says Thomas has been ill for a long time, had been in and out of the hospital, and had come home Thursday.

Thomas made her name as a bulldog for United Press International in the great wire-service rivalries of old. She used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents — often to their discomfort and was not shy about sharing her opinions.

She was persistent to the point of badgering; one White House press secretary described her questioning as "torture" — and he was one of her fans.

In 2010, her refusal to conceal her strong opinions finally ended a career which had started in 1943 and made her one of the best known journalists in Washington. On a videotape circulated on the Internet, she said Israelis should "get out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany, Poland or the United States. The remark brought down widespread condemnation and she ended her career.

In January 2011, she became a columnist for a free weekly paper in a Washington suburb, months after the controversy forced her from her previous post.

In her long career, she was indelibly associated with the ritual ending White House news conferences. She was often the one to deliver the closing line: "Thank you, Mister President" — four polite words that belied a fierce competitive streak.

Her disdain for White House secrecy and dodging spanned five decades, back to President John Kennedy. Her freedom to voice her peppery opinions as a speaker and a Hearst columnist came late in her career.

The Bush administration marginalized her, clearly peeved with a journalist who had challenged President George W. Bush to his face on the Iraq war and declared him the worst president in history.

Thomas was accustomed to getting under the skin of presidents, if not to the cold shoulder.

"If you want to be loved," she said years earlier, "go into something else."

5 things to know about Helen Thomas

• SHE WAS AMONG THE FIRST WOMEN TO COVER HARD NEWS AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Her journalism career started in 1943, an era when female reporters were confined to stories about presidents' kids, wives, their teas and their hairdos.

• HER BIG BREAK CAME IN PALM BEACH IN 1960

She was sent by UPI to cover the vacation of President-elect John Kennedy and his family.

• THE BARRIER SHE BROKE THROUGH IN 1974

As United Press International's White House bureau chief, she became the first woman in that role for a wire service.

• THE DAY SHE WAS SCOOPED BY A FIRST LADY

It was Pat Nixon who announced Thomas was engaged to Douglas Cornell, chief White House correspondent for the archrival Associated Press. They married in 1971.

• THE COMMENT ABOUT ISRAEL THAT ENDED HER CAREER IN 2010

"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she told a rabbi who was interviewing her. "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland." She soon retired from her job as a Hearst columnist.

Read more in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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