Helen Thomas died at 92

Helen Thomas died at 92

Helen Thomas died at 92

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas, a trailblazing journalist who reported on every U.S. president from John Kennedy to Barack Obama, died today at the age of 92, The Gridiron Club and Foundation said.

Thomas, who worked with the White House beat for 49 years for United Press International and Hearst newspapers, died after a long illness, Susan Hahn in the Washington journalists' organization said in a statement.

As the senior news service correspondent in the White House, Thomas ended dozens of presidential news conferences using the familiar phrase "Thanks, Mr. President."

She was famous for her straight-to-the-point questioning of presidents and press secretaries in a manner that some considered dogged. Others, including many fellow reporters, considered her style in their own final years to become too combative and agenda-driven.

Over the last decade of her career Thomas would be a columnist for Hearst, a job that allowed her opinions to come to light more than in their own are a hard-news reporter for UPI.

Thomas announced in June 2010 that they was retiring from Hearst, effective immediately, after comments she made about Israel along with the Palestinians, including that Israel should "receive the hell beyond Palestine," were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the net.

Thomas later issued your firm stand out: "I deeply regret my comments I made a week ago in connection with Israelis as well as the Palestinians. They don't reflect me-felt thought that peace arrive in the Middle East only if everyone recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May tomorrow come soon."

Thomas believed the Washington media had grown soft and was not wanting to challenge government, views she shared in their 2007 book "Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and The Way It Has Failed the general public."