Front Row at the White House by Helen Thomas
4 stars
I so enjoyed this book. I picked it up on cassette at my library when I was scanning the shelves for something that would fit the history tag. Before the end of the tapes, I ordered a used copy so I could read it and soak in the details. This memoir of Thomas’ years as a White House reporter and correspondent was published in 1999 and covers spresidencies through the Clinton years. It is full of fascinating personal insights about the history of the past century. I was especially interested in her take on the changing role of women in the press and the descriptions of traveling with the president on Air Force One. I intend to read Thank You, Mr. President and then her more recent book Watch Dogs of Democracy? to try and get the complete picture of this woman’s life work.

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Interested in having a chat with someone who has known and reported on eight US Presidents? That's basically what this book is. A candid, off-the-cuff chat with Helen Thomas about everything from Monica Lewinsky to Watergate to the many charities that have benefited from the First Ladies of the US.

As Thomas carries you through her own story, each of the First Ladies and then each POTUS from Kennedy to Clinton this book has a bit of repetition, some parts that could have been tightened up a bit from a writer's perspective, but overall it is definitely worth reading. The disjointed layout can be a bit confusing, as her memories bounce between decades, but it also lends a conversational tone to the book. As an added benefit, this allows insight into a first lady you may never have given a second thought to, or a president you may have hated or revered unjustly. Read this book, if for nothing else than because you will gain insight and it will change the way you view the role of media in the presidency. ( )

While this book is listed as a bio in most of the libraries in the system I work for, it's not just a biography of Helen Thomas. It's almost a history of the presidents she's reported on -- not just historical events, but personal stories. The book is fun, often funny, and very interesting. ( )

While this book reads as a collection of anecdotes, what anecdotes they are! As White House correspondent for UPI, Helen Thomas has covered every President (and First Lady) since JFK. Now a syndicated columnist for the Hearst newspapers, she still doesn't mince words.

If I have any criticism of this book, though, it is that she tries too hard to find something nice to say about every President. You can see her straining at times. But I did find her discussions of how the different administrations related to the press very revealing. The press, in my view and hers, is critical to keeping our politicians honest.

In the last chapter, she says, ". . . I didn't get into this business to be loved; I'd rather be respected for being fair. I wanted to break down that wall of secrecy we see so much in government. Without a doubt, the perpetrators and guardians of that secrecy are the presidents themselves. Too often those in government have lied to reporters, and in doing so, they have lied to the American people. In the Kennedy era, Pentagon press officer Arthur Sylvester, a former newsman, said the government has the right to lie in times of nuclear danger. The same thesis has been argued by some of his successors. We saw it in the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada and the Persian Gulf War. I believe the lie dishonors those who fight in those wars. There may be time when all cannot be told. Then, I say, silence is better than deliberate lies."

I agree.

Helen Thomas gets on my last nerve, but this is the second book of hers I've read. They both say the same thing, from what I can remember. Something about I've been covering stories since the days of the telegraphs, I'm Liberian (or is it Romanian, or something else), I'm an institution at the White House, here's some dirt on this or that President. ( )