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.
Helen ThomasEvery 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.
Helen ThomasI censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, 'Who do I hate today?'
Helen ThomasPresident Bush has asserted the right to wiretap and eavesdrop on any American without a warrant in the name of fighting terrorism. He has asserted presidential power beyond stated constitutional rights, and there is no Republican gutsy enough to call his hand.
Helen ThomasI'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.
Helen ThomasI deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt 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.
Helen ThomasIf 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.
Helen ThomasI 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.
Helen ThomasVice President Dick Cheney reportedly has been disturbed over what he sees as the erosion of presidential powers since the Watergate scandal and has urged Bush to take a stronger stand against what Cheney sees as congressional intrusions into the executive branch.
Helen ThomasPresidential power was overruled by the high bench in July 1974, when President Nixon was ordered to turn over some audio tapes of his White House conversations, including the 'smoking gun' tape of June 23, 1972, that revealing the Watergate cover up.
Helen ThomasWe got the vote, which we should've been born with, in 1920. Everything we've had to struggle for - it's ridiculous.
Helen ThomasEveryone 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.
Helen ThomasThe White House used to belong to the American people. At least that's what I learned from history books and from covering every president starting with John F. Kennedy.
Helen ThomasI can remember the morning after President Nixon won re-election in 1972. His chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, called a Cabinet meeting and told the members: 'You are all a bunch of burned-out volcanoes;' and asked for their resignations.
Helen ThomasAs a reporter having covered him for eight years in the White House, I am sure the media could have done a better job if we had known the real Ronald Reagan.
Helen ThomasTruman fired the popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur because he disobeyed orders in the Korean War. Johnson knew that he had reached the endgame in Vietnam when Gen. William Westmoreland, the top commander in Vietnam, requested 240,000 more troops in 1968 for the prolonged war that also could not be won.
Helen ThomasThe presidential news conference is indispensable because it is the only forum in our society where you can be questioned on a regular basis and held accountable.
Helen ThomasI 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.
Helen ThomasI love my work, and I think that I was so lucky to pick a profession where it's a joy to go to work every day.
Helen ThomasWe 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. No question in my opinion. They put their money where their mouth is...We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.
Helen ThomasQ: What do Jesus and Nicole Brown Simpson have in common? A: They were both killed by the Joooooooose.
Helen ThomasWe 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.
Helen ThomasThe United States has tried for years to live down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's order during World War II to move Japanese-Americans on the West Coast to inland detention camps on grounds that they might be disloyal.
Helen ThomasAnybody who runs for public office today has got to know his life or her life will be an open book. I've decided that if you want to run for public office you have to decide at the age of 5 and live accordingly.
Helen ThomasI 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.
Helen ThomasI have a background and an understanding of what's happened in the Middle East that a lot of people don't have, because there's been no interest.
Helen Thomas