In a natural follow-up to her national bestseller "Front Row at the White House," the dean of the White House press corps presents a vivid and personal presidential chronicle. Currently a columnist for Hearst and a former White House bureau chief for UPI, Helen Thomas has covered an unprecedented nine presidential administrations, endearing herself with her trademark "Thank you, Mr. President," at the conclusion of White House press conferences. Thomas has amassed many wonderful tales about her personal interactions with and observations of the presidents and their families that can all be found in "Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President." In nine riveting chapters -- one for each administration -- Thomas delights, informs, spins yarns, and offers opinions on the commanders in chief, from Kennedy through George W. Bush. In these accounts, Thomas reveals Kennedy's love of sparring with the press, the unique invitation LBJ extended to Hubert Humphrey to become his running mate, and Reagan's down-home ways of avoiding the press's tougher questions. This book is as entertaining and compelling as Helen Thomas herself.
Helen Thomas, until her resignation in May 2000, had served as White House bureau chief for United Press International since the Kennedy administration. Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President is a chronological collection of observations and anecdotes gleaned from four decades of work. The short tales and one- and two-liners are meant to be humorous, or at least lighthearted. Occasionally they are. The book is thick with repetitions of the familiar (George W. Bush's malapropisms and Kennedy's quip, after receiving honors from Yale University, about having the best of two worlds: a Harvard education and a Yale degree.) or variations on tired jokes ("I'm no lady, I'm a reporter.") All too often, the inclusions are downright not funny: Jacqueline Kennedy, Thomas says, once chided an annoying U.S. Navy aide to "shape up or ship out." In the end, this is an unedifying and meager compilation. --H. O'Billovich
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Thanks for the Memories, Mr President : Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House:
Helen Thomas is an inspiration to all young women wanting to persue a dream. I saw her on Enough Rope several months ago and wanted to get everything I could find that she had written and I am not disappointed. I couldn't order it in Australia so went to Amazon and was lucky to get it there. She is inspirational, gutsy and a sensational author. There wasn't one boring sentence in the book, I couldn't put it down and I am looking forward to reading more and sharing her stories with the young people I work... more info
Not as good as it should have been.:
I thought I was going to be interested in this book. I have seen the press conferences where Helen Thomas closes the session. She certainly had a lot of experience with the various Presidents. However, the jokes were few and far between. In fact, Ms. Thomas seems fixated with herself.
She often included less than humorous interactions with her and the various Presidents (Bush I's dog and her as an example). She also seems partisan to the Democrats than Republicans. At the end, I had far too few... more info
Full of wit, but no surprises:
I loved reading about Helen and her interactions with the White House. Especially entertaining were her descriptions of the Gridiron dinners where she was often portraying first ladies in skits.
This was a fast read, fun and entertaining. However, it came as no surprise that Nixon had a dark humor, Reagan was always full of hot air and President Jr. and Sr. need to work on their command of the English language. What was great about the book was that it allowed us in to see a very human side of the working... more info
The Side of Important men Few Get to See:
Helen Thomas shares the lighter side of nine presidents and their wives with the people whom do not know them so well. She re-tells jokes and conversations held between herself and nine presidents in her time of being "dean of the White House Press Corps". She implies that not all presidents are alike. Every one of them is different. While the chapter on Kennedy was quite humorous, that of Reagan's was less humorous and more about how he handled the press. There are many examples of humor in chpt 1. On... more info
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