Helen Thomas Passes Away!

President Barack Obama and Helen Thomas shared their birthday on August 4. In 2010 before her retirement, the president welcomes Helen with a birthday cupcake.

Before she was forced out after sharing her thoughts on the undisputed territory of Palestine, Helen Thomas was the one woman who always had knack to give presidents a reason to sweat. Her tough questions often merit controversy.

The one woman who held the front row of the White House press room, Helen Thomas has passed away.

She died at the age of 92, a few weeks shy of her birthday.

She was member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist.

She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and 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 every President of the United States from the last years of the Eisenhower administration until the second year of the Obama administration. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents' Association, and the first female member of the Gridiron Club.

She wrote 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). Thomas retired on June 7, 2010, following controversial comments she made about Israel, Israeli Jews and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

CNN reports Thomas covered 10 presidents over nearly half a century, and became a legend in the industry.
She was a fixture at White House news conferences -- sitting front and center late in her career -- where she frequently exasperated government spokesmen with her pointed questions.

Thomas began covering the White House for United Press International when John F. Kennedy became president in 1961 and was a fixture there until her retirement in 2010.

She was a trailblazer and the considered the dean of the White House press corps because she was the longest-serving White House journalist.

Her career, however, came to an end under a cloud of controversy.

Thomas, then working for the media conglomerate Hearst as a syndicated columnist, was blasted for comments she made regarding Jewish people.

In 2010, a YouTube video surfaced showing her saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jewish people should go home to "Poland, Germany ... and America and everywhere else."

Thomas apologized for her remarks, writing, "They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

She announced her retirement one week later.

In 2012, Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi presented Thomas with an award.