Here's the Newsday story on Helen Thomas' resignation on May 16, 2000, from UPI:
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Washington-Helen Thomas, the dean of the White House press corps, resigned from United Press International yesterday in the wake of the wire service's purchase by News World Communications, an organization with links to the Unification Church and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Thomas, who covered eight presidents beginning with John F. Kennedy in 1960, never failed to ask pointed questions of all of them and became famous for ending presidential news conferences with "Thank you, Mr. President."
"I do not intend to stay (at UPI)," Thomas, 79, said in a statement.
"United Press International is a great news agency. It has made a remarkable mark in the annals of American journalism and has left a superb legacy for future journalists. I wish the new owners all the best, great stories and happy landings."
Former UPI Washington Bureau Chief and Managing Editor Ronald Cohen, a close colleague of Thomas', said Thomas "felt the time had come to look hard at who purchased UPI and decide for herself that their statements that they were going to be apolitical and nonpartisan didn't wash for her."
President Bill Clinton said Thomas was very important to the White House.
"Without her saying 'Thank you, Mr. President,' at least some of us might never have ended our press conferences," he said.
Thomas did not spell out her plans, but she has been appearing around the country promoting her book, Front Row at the White House, and giving lectures. She and collaborator Kathleen Silvassy are working on another book about presidential humor and White House anecdotes.
The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Thomas was hired by United Press in 1943 as a writer for the local radio wire. In 1960 she was sent to cover Kennedy's post-election family vacation. She remained on the White House beat afterward to cover Jacqueline Kennedy and the Kennedy family but soon branched out to cover the president. She was named UPI's chief White House correspondent in 1970.