Marianne Means (née Hansen; June 13, 1934 – December 2, 2017) was an American journalist and syndicated political columnist based in Washington, D.C. who, for many years, was a White House correspondent.

She started her career as a reporter and advanced to the role of a copy editor for a newspaper in Nebraska for a couple of years.

She then relocated to Washington, D.C. where she took a position as the chief editor for a Virginia newspaper and supervised a staff of men for two years.

[8][9] Means moved to Hearst Newspapers in 1959,[3] and became the group's Washington bureau correspondent, covering Capitol Hill and politics.

Her journalism career was advanced when she escorted Kennedy and wrote about him and his speechwriter Theodore C. Sorensen visiting the University of Nebraska.

After Kennedy was elected president, he suggested Means be assigned to cover the White House full-time.

[6][12][13] Means reported on Kennedy's trips to Latin America and Europe, the summit conference with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and national crises.

in 1974, she reported President Lyndon B. Johnson told her in confidence Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone but was motivated by the ideals of Fidel Castro.

[6] She appeared on the television programs Today, Meet the Press, and The Tonight Show, which was hosted by Johnny Carson.

[15] In 1962 Means won the New York Newspaper Women's Club Front Page Award for the best feature writing.