Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013)[1] was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps.

[15] Later in the decade, and in the early fifties, she wrote UP's Names in the News column, for which she interviewed numerous Washington celebrities.

[1] In 1959, she and a few of her fellow female journalists forced the National Press Club, then barred to women, to allow them to attend an address by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

[20] In a 2008 article, The Christian Science Monitor wrote: "Thomas, a fixture in American politics, is outspoken, blunt, demanding, forceful and unrelenting.

In 1970, UPI named Thomas their chief White House correspondent, making her the first woman to serve in the position.

She covered every Economic Summit since 1975, working up to the position of UPI's White House Bureau Chief, a post she would hold for over 25 years.

[26] On May 17, 2000, the day after it was announced that the UPI had been acquired by News World Communications Inc., an international media conglomerate founded and controlled by Unification Church leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon which owns The Washington Times and other news media, Thomas resigned from the UPI after 57 years with the organization.

"[27][28] Less than two months later, she joined Hearst Newspapers as an opinion columnist, writing on national affairs and the White House.

"[31] In January 2003, following a speech at a Society of Professional Journalists banquet, Thomas told an autograph seeker, "I'm covering the worst president in American history."

[32] For many years, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences.

What was it?Bush responded by discussing the War on Terror, stating as a reason for the invasion that Saddam Hussein chose to deny inspectors and not to disclose required information.

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.

[39] On February 9, 2009, Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected President Obama's first news conference.

I'm excited, this is my inaugural moment,"[41] seemingly a reference to her long-term presence in the White House Press Corps.

[60][61] 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.

[70] In January 2011, the Society of Professional Journalists voted to retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement.

[50] The next day, in an interview on NBC's Today 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".

Nader said there was a "double standard" where one "off-hand 'ill-conceived remark'" (quoting NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard) ended Helen Thomas' career while "ultra-right wing radio and cable ranters" engaged in "bigotry, stereotypes and falsehoods directed wholesale against Muslims, including a blatant antisemitism against Arabs" keep getting rewarded with "enhanced careers and fat lecture fees.

"[76] In an October 2010 radio interview with Scott Spears of WMRN, Thomas said she realized soon after making the comments that she would be fired, stating, "I hit the third rail.

"[77][78] On December 2, 2010, shortly before a speech for the eighth annual "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference in Dearborn, Michigan, Thomas told reporters that she still stood by the comments she had made to Nesenoff.

"[79][82] Thomas defended her comments on December 7, telling Scott Spears of Marion, Ohio radio station WMRN, "I just think that people should be enlightened as to who is in charge of the opinion in this country.

[84] Wayne State University in Detroit 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.

[79] 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.

[92] At age 51, Thomas married a colleague, Douglas Cornell, who was just retiring as the White House reporter for the Associated Press.

The White House Correspondents' Association honored her in 1998 by establishing the "Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award".

[107][108] In April 2012, Thomas received an award from the Palestine Liberation Organization's General Mission to the United States.

The award was presented by PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi to "recognize Thomas's long career in the field of journalism, during which she defended the Palestinian position every step of the way.

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.