Trailblazing White House journalist Helen Thomas has died at age 92 after a long illness, sources told CNN Saturday.
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 considered the dean of the White House press corps because she was the longest-serving White House journalist.
Thomas will be buried in Detroit, and a memorial service is planned in Washington in October, according to her family.
President Barack Obama said that it was “not just the length of her tenure, but her fierce belief that our democracy works best when we ask tough questions and hold our leaders to account,” that put her in high esteem.
