Legendary Journalist Helen Thomas Speaks to GW Students

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WRGW News, GW Television, and the School of Media Public Affairs at the George Washington University played host to one of the legends of journalism Tuesday as White House press corps stalwart Helen Thomas spoke before students in the Elliott School.

Mrs. Thomas was introduced by both SMPA Director Frank Sesno and Professor Mike Freedman, who each spoke highly of her career and accomplishments. Sesno described Thomas as "a beacon of light" in Washington, and as someone who "made her career being utterly fearless." Freedman noted that Thomas began covering the White House during the Kennedy administration, and had been "a pain in the butt to every president ever since."

Thomas quickly showed that even at age 89 she was still capable of making waves.

Mrs. Thomas advised President Obama to exit the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that "Saddam Hussein was ruthless, but women had jobs, children went to schools, people had electricity and clean water".

She also called for the creation of a single-payer healthcare system, accusing congressional opponents of healthcare reform of hypocrisy for denying the general public the same quality of care the taxpayers support for them.

The speech then moved into a brief overview of her opinions on every President she had covered. She said Kennedy was her favorite because he "inspired, grew in office, and learned from his mistakes."

According to Thomas, Johnson supported sound domestic policy but his effectiveness was weakened by the Vietnam war. Reagan, she said, helped to end the Cold War while ignoring social issues.

Harsh criticism was reserved for George W. Bush, who "wanted to be a war president and he was, and his dreams were fulfilled much to our horror."

Of particular concern to Thomas was the supposed human rights abuses, such as alleged torture, committed under the Bush administration.

Thomas offered a mixed review of the current administration. Obama's "heart was in the right place," she said, "but he lacks courage." She advised the President to stand up to his opponents on issues like healthcare, even if it meant facing a filibuster.

The speech was not without its light moments, however. Thomas shared several stories from her years in the White House, most of them humorous, and called for citizens to seek greater transparency in government. Quoting a Holocaust survivor she said, "The only sin is silence."

A question and answer session followed the lecture.

One attendee asked Thomas for her opinion of the recent criticism of Fox News by the Obama administration, to which she was disapproving; the president must "rise above the fray" she said, noting that "the press always gets the last word."

When asked for her prescriptions for the ailing economy, she harkened back to the days of the New Deal, calling for a recreation of the Works Progress Administration to provide jobs to the unemployed, and expressed displeasure at the leniency still being given to banks surviving on government cash.

The program was filmed by GWTV and will air on campus cable channel 6 shortly.

Thomas' new book, which she co-authored with Craig Crawford, Listen Up Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do, is available in bookstores now.