National Press Club Screens HBO’s Helen Thomas Documentary

Related: “A liberal press? ‘Hell no!’ says Helen Thomas”

A few hundred people descended on the National Press Club last night for a screening of “Thank You Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House,” an HBO documentary by Rory Kennedy. Thomas herself was unable to attend the screening, as she has been ill lately, but she did send a message to those in the audience.

See our full report after the jump…

Before the screening, Kennedy took to the microphone to do the traditional thank-yous to everyone involved in the film’s production. “Many people were involved in the making of ‘Thank You Mr. President,’ but the president wasn’t one of them,” she said to laughs from the audience. It wasn’t the last time that a laugh would come at the expense of the Commander in Chief — both current and former.

Early in the film, we see Helen asking President Bush a question in the run-up to the Iraq war. There were giggles in the audience as the president was noticeably uncomfortable with the question and, then, there were audible scoffs when he answered the question by saying that he did not want war.

The film was full of clips from Thomas’ career — a surprising number of which were in black and white — that elicited quite a few “aw’s” and even some gasps of disbelief over her youthful appearance. The clips bounced around the nine presidential administrations covered by Thomas, from President Clinton’s infamous “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” quip — met with a sizable groan from the audience — to the titular “Thank you Mr. President” said to President Kennedy that was met with cheers, laughter and applause.

In the film, Thomas talked about her experiences with the various administrations, referring to press availabilities with President Johnson as the “Bataan Death March” because they involved long walks which Thomas called “agonizing” because of her high heels. Johnson was also “sadistic” according to Thomas, due to his tendency to speak softly to the press.

On the subject of Watergate, Thomas lamented that the White House press did not do more to uncover the scandal, but explained that it was difficult to do investigative reporting when your primary task is to ask daily questions to the administration. She also said she “[doesn't] think the media can destroy a president.”

After the screening, former White House press secretaries were on hand to field questions and recount their experiences with Thomas. According to Joe Lockhart, press secretary during the Clinton administration, Helen Thomas “knew what it was like for a young man to argue with his school teacher or grandmother, and used it to her advantage.”

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