Helen Thomas, Esteemed White House Journalist, Dies At 92

Helen Thomas, the pioneer White House journalist, died on Saturday at her home in Washington. She was 92.

Thomas’ death was announced by her friend, fellow retired journalist Muriel Dobbin, reported The Washington Post. Though no official cause of death has been revealed, it’s been reported that she had been on dialysis for a kidney-related illness.

During her journalism career, she reported for the United Press International wire service for nearly 60 years – through 10 presidents and their press secretaries. Late in her career, Thomas earned a spot in the front row during White House news conferences and was dubbed the “dean of the White House.”

“Helen was a true pioneer, opening doors and breaking down barriers for generations of women in journalism,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “She covered every White House since President Kennedy’s, and during that time she never failed to keep presidents — myself included — on their toes.”

Thomas quit UPI in 2000, but continued to write, becoming a columnist for the Hearst News Service. She retired from the post in 2010 when a video featuring the journalist making controversial comments about Jewish people in Palestine surfaced on YouTube. In the video she is heard saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jewish people should go home to "Poland, Germany … and America and everywhere else." She apologized, and opted to retire.

Despite the bad press she received following the YouTube video, Thomas’ legacy as a indefatigable investigative journalist endures. She was a trailblazer for women in the world of journalism who questioned U.S. presidents fearlessly, holding them responsible for the demands of the office. “I respect the office of the presidency,” she once told Ms. magazine, “but I never worship at the shrines of our public servants. They owe us the truth.”

Thomas was predeceased by her husband, Douglas Cornell, in 1982. She has no surviving children.

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