Growing up in the 1960s, it was rare to see a woman in a leadership position in government, politics or journalism.  No woman had ever been CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a television news anchor.  For 20 years, 1955 - 1975, not one woman served in any President's cabinet.  At the end of the sixties, only one woman served in the U.S. Senate, joined by 10 in the House - a tiny 2.5% of the Congress.

In this context, White House correspondent Helen Thomas stood out like a beacon. In her fearless questioning of Presidents and their staff, she demonstrated that women could go toe to toe with the leader of the free world.  Just as powerful, the image of Helen Thomas in the front row of the White House briefing room showed a woman leading the way in a room full of her male peers.  Her election as the first woman to lead the White House Correspondents Association was recognition of her relentless practice of journalism.  She cracked the glass ceiling long before the term was invented.


The anti-Semitism that was revealed at the end of her life was a shocking disappointment to many of us who followed her career.  Those revelations don't diminish the power she had as a role model for generations of young women, who saw her playing the game at the highest level and were inspired to pursue dreams of a career in journalism, politics or government.

This Washington Post photo gallery illustrates how Thomas was often the only woman in a sea of male journalists.