At a breezy 38 minutes, HBO’s “Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House,” which airs at 9 p.m. Monday, gives the veteran White House reporter all the attention she merits.
Thomas, now in her 80s, has been an ever-present part of the White House press corps for almost five decades, most of that time as a reporter for United Press International and since 2000 as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers.
Originally Thomas stood out as the only woman. Later she became notable for her short stature and somewhat brusque style of questioning.
Viewers who dislike her style aren’t likely to warm to it in this documentary.
“I think presidents deserve to be questioned, maybe irreverently, most of the time,” she said. “Bring them down to size.”
Really? Should that truly be a reporter’s goal? Ask challenging questions, yes, but “bring them down to size”?
It sounds a little too “gotcha” for my taste. Yes, the American president should not be treated like a monarch, but the office deserves respect even when the occupant brings disgrace upon it, which happened all too frequently during Thomas’ tenure.
Director Rory Kennedy (“American Hollow”), niece of President John F. Kennedy, spends too little time painting Thomas’ personal portrait. Viewers learn a bit about her parents and upbringing, but her husband is introduced and disappears in a flash. I wish the film told us more about their life together.
Instead, the film is all about Thomas’ career covering the White House, particularly her thoughts on the presidents.
To conservative ears, Thomas will likely seem to be a Clinton apologist (on the Lewinsky affair: “It was a story you couldn’t avoid, even if you would like to have”). Liberals will be more likely to shower her with praise.
“I got him off the hook,” Thomas said of helping JFK when he struggled during a press conference.
She quickly ended the press conference by saying, “Thank you, Mr. President.”
Rory Kennedy doesn’t shy away from replaying some of Thomas’ more controversial moments — interrupting presidents when they try to answer a question; labeling President Bush as “the worst president ever in all of American history” — but overall the tone is that of veneration.
The film does provide evidence that her questioning was often just as tough for the Democrats as for the Republicans, but she wears her own political beliefs on her sleeve, denying that there’s ever any liberal media bias while at the same time saying, “I’m dying to find another liberal. Open their mouths. Where are they?”
Perhaps the more relevant issue is the coziness that can develop between a reporter and her subjects. On that front, Thomas seems to be at least somewhat self-aware.
As a character who stood out among the White House press corps, Thomas sometimes attracted attention — the film shows a White House conference room full of administration staffers singing “Happy Birthday” to her — but she rightly notes, “I know I’m not a friend to these people.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if filming interviews with Thomas at this advanced stage in her life does a disservice to her earlier years.
Still, for viewers with an interest in the presidency and media coverage, “Thank You, Mr. President” is a quick profile of an imperfect but fascinating woman at the right hand of 20th-century American history.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
