Helen Thomas

“War makes strange bedfellows.”

“I had a lot of fun bantering back and forth with Kennedy. But for ease and comfort, it would be Gerald Ford. He was a down-home type. I came from the Midwest and he came from the Midwest. He was nonaggressive and kindly.”

“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.”

“The 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.”

“I 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.”

“George W. Bush is the worst President in all of American history.”

“You don't spread democracy with a barrel of a gun.”

“If 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.”

“But when will our leaders learn - war is not the answer.”

“It's like I say to young people who ask me about going into journalism: If you want to be loved, don't go into this business.”

“In Plains, I saw Jimmy Carter as he really is - a nice, decent man... in terms of compassionate contribution to society, he certainly has proven to be our best past president.”

“I think that presidents deserve to be questioned. Maybe irreverently, most of the time. Bring 'em down a size. You see a president, ask a question. You have one chance in the barrel. Don't blow it.”

“We began to see the renovation of our offices as a subtle part of the Nixon war against the press.”

“Presidents hate the press. They hate me most of the time.”

“President 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.”

“You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.”

“The sudden ending of a White House career all seems so unceremonious for aides who have personally sacrificed a lot - and sometimes even bent their conscience - to do the president's bidding.”

“When you speak of the press, of course, you have to speak of different segments of the press. Reporters, straight reporters, wire services, you stick to the facts; you don't create the story, per se. You cover what is happening.”

“People will never know how hard it is to get information, especially if it's locked up behind official doors where, if politicians had their way, they'd stamp 'top secret' on the color of the walls.”

“I've never covered the president in any way other than that he is ultimately responsible.”