HELEN THOMAS July 20, 2013
Legendary Washington reporter Helen Thomas died Saturday at the age of 92 following a long illness, the Gridiron Club and Foundation reports.
Thomas covered the White House for 49 years, reporting on every U.S. president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama,
The trailblazer broke many barriers for female journalists during her nearly five decades on the White House beat for United Press International and Hearst newspapers.
Thomas established a number of firsts for women journalists including becoming the first woman officer in the White House Correspondents Association. In 1975, she broke the 90-year all-male barrier at the Gridiron Club, an organization of leading Washington journalists, and became its first female president in 1993.