Legendary American journalist Helen Thomas, a pioneer for women in journalism who reported on ten US presidents from Dwight D Eisenhower to Barack Obama, died today. She was 92.
Thomas breathed her last in her apartment in Washington. She had been ill for a long time.
"Helen Thomas was a trailblazer in journalism and in the White House press corps, covering presidents from John F Kennedy through Barack Obama," said Steven Thomma, president, White House Correspondents Association.
"Starting with the Kennedy administration, she was the first woman to cover the president and not just the First Lady. At her urging in 1962, Kennedy said he would not attend the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association unless it was opened to women for the first time. It was," Thomma said in a statement.
In 1975-76, Thomas served as the first woman president of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA).
"Women and men who've followed in the press corps all owe a debt of gratitude for the work Helen did and the doors she opened. All of our journalism is the better for it," Thomma said.
Boron on July 4, 1920, Thomas worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and then later as White House bureau manager.
She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House.
She covered the administrations of ten US presidents -- from the final years of the Eisenhower administration to the second year of the Obama administration.
She broke many barriers by not only being the first woman WHCA president, but also being the first female officer of the National Press Club and the first female member of the Gridiron Club.
Author of six books; her latest, with co-author Craig Crawford, is "Listen Up, Mr President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009)".
She retired on June 7, 2010, following controversial comments she made about Israel, Israeli Jews and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
