Helen Thomas was an American reporter and author best known for her membership in the White House Press Corps. Awarded the American Book Award and Glamour Lifetime Achievement Award, dozens of books have authored by Thomas. Here is a look at some of the most notable Helen Thomas quotes ever documented.
“All presidents rail against the press. It goes with the turf.”
“American journalism’s crazy old aunt in the attic.”
“But when will our leaders learn – war is not the answer.”
“Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists.”
“Don’t let the politicians chip away at the New Deal and the Great Society programs like Social Security and Medicare, that puts a floor beyond which the elderly, the sick, the powerless do not starve or lack for medicine or shelter.”
“Every president thinks that all information that comes to the White House is their private preserve after they all promise an open administration on the campaign trail, but some are more secretive than others. Some want to lock down everything.”
“Everybody is in the pocket of the Israeli lobbies.”
“Everyone with a cell phone thinks they’re a photographer. Everyone with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist. But they have no training, and they have no idea of what we keep to in terms of standards, as in what’s far out and what’s reality. And they have no dedication to truth.”
“I don’t think a tough question is disrespectful.”
“I don’t think there are any rude questions.”
“I got into the Kennedy White House because at the time I was president of the Women’s National Press Club, and they assigned me to cover the early days of the Kennedy campaign. Jackie especially. Everyone was interested in the family.”
“I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive.”
“I respect the office of the presidency, but I never worship at the shrines of our public servants…The Washington press corps has the privilege of asking the president of the United States what he is doing and why.”
“I think I’ll work all my life. When you’re having fun, why stop having fun?”
“I was in Independence, Missouri when Johnson signed the Medicare bill, with Truman standing there. Truman had first proposed Medicare, but couldn’t get it through.”
“If we care about the children, the grandchildren, the future generations, we need to make sure that they do not become the cannon fodder of the future.”
“If you want to be President, decide it at the age of five, and then live accordingly.”
“I’ll tell you how I handle stress. I say-This too shall pass. You’ve got to try to stay cool and admit when you’re wrong, and tell them when you’re right.”
“I’m a liberal, I was born a liberal, I’ll be one till I die. What else should a reporter be when you see so much and when we have such great privilege and access to the truth?”
“I’m not anti-Jewish; I’m anti-Zionist.”
“In Plains, I saw Jimmy Carter as he really is – a nice, decent man… in terms of compassionate contribution to society, he certainly has proven to be our best past president.”
“Life is too short to drink the house wine.”
“People will never know how hard it is to get information, especially if it’s locked up behind official doors where, if politicians had their way, they’d stamp ‘top secret’ on the color of the walls.”
“This is the worst President ever. He George W. Bush is the worst President in all of American history.”
“Try to reject war and give peace a chance. Question the powers that be and find out why they make the dubious decisions they do that send young people to war.”
“We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There’s no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists.”
“We are the only institution in our society that can question a president on a regular basis and make him accountable. Otherwise, he could be king.”
“We don’t go into journalism to be popular. It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.”
“We in the press have a special role since there is no other institution in our society that can hold the President accountable. I do believe that our democracy can endure and prevail only if the American people are informed.”
“We’ve got to break through the wall of secrecy. It’s America’s fate.”
“When you’re in the news business, you always expect the unexpected.”
“You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.”
“You didn’t tell a lie, you just left a big hole in the truth.”
“You don’t spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.”
“You’re only as good as your last story.”
Here is a tribute to Helen Thomas, known for covering the White House for nearly five decades during her life from 1920-2013.
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