Page 156 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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THOMAS, HELEN
Thomas, the 106th U.S. Supreme Court justice, replaced Thurgood Marshall.
When President George Bush's nominee began Senate Judiciary Committee
hearings on September 10, he was pressed by the committee and news media
for his views on abortion, minority preference programs, and the concept of
natural law. However, he appeared headed for easy confirmation until a former
female aide, Anita F. Hill, publicly accused him on October 6 of sexual ha-
rassment from 1981 to 1983. According to reports that day in the New York
Times and on National Public Radio, the Senate Judiciary Committee staff first
heard of the charges in an affidavit submitted to them September 10 by Hill
(and later leaked to the press). Hill, a University of Oklahoma law professor,
said Thomas had asked her out when she worked for him at the Department of
Education and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. When she
refused to date him, she said he began talking about sexual acts he had seen in
pornographic movies. A political mud fight erupted after the Hill charges were
made public. Republican legislators accused the Democrats of leaking the affi-
davit to the press, seven female Democratic members of the House lobbied male
colleagues in the Senate to delay confirmation, and the all-male Senate Judiciary
Committee was pressured by women's groups and female legislators to postpone
its October 8 vote. At 8 P.M. on October 8, the Senate agreed to delay the vote.
The October 11-14 Senate Judiciary Committee hearings featuring testimony
by both Hill and Thomas were broadcast over radio and television and earned
high ratings. An October 13 poll by CBS and the New York Times showed that
45 percent favored Thomas' confirmation but that 58 percent believed his ver-
sion of the events discussed in the hearings.

SOURCES: Facts on File, World News Digest 51, 1991; New York Times, selected
stories, September 10 to October 15, 1991.
Ardyth B. Sohn

THOMAS, HELEN (1920- ) has covered the White House beat for more than
40 years and paved the way for female journalists in a traditional man's-only
world. She was born in Kentucky to Lebanese parents who owned a grocery
store. They uprooted the family and moved to Detroit. Thomas credits her par-
ents' encouragement of all the children to be successful in helping her seek out
her career. She took a strong interest in journalism in high school and graduated
with a degree in English from Wayne State University.
Her break into professional journalism came when she landed the position of
copy girl at the Washington Daily News. She was quickly promoted to junior
reporter only to lose her job. This proved to be a lucky break because she landed
a job as copy writer for the radio wire of United Press International. She covered
women's topics and soon was permitted to write a column about Washington's
influential people. In 1955, she began to cover the Department of Justice.
As she gained experience and confidence, she boldly followed Washington's
elite, including the presidents, always looking for the rare opportunity to ask a