Former Republican NC Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86

[jhofficial]

BY DAVID ESPO and WHITNEY WOODWARD
Associated Press Writers

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July.

He was 86.

Helms died at 1:15 a.m., said the Jesse Helms Center at Wingate University in North Carolina.

"He was very comfortable," said former chief of staff Jimy Broughton, who added Helms died of natural causes in Raleigh.

Helms, who first became known to North Carolina voters as a newspaper and television commentator, won election to the Senate in 1972 and decided not to run for a sixth term in 2002.

As he aged, Helms was slowed by a variety of illnesses, including a bone disorder, prostate cancer and heart problems, and he made his way through the Capitol on a motorized scooter as his career neared an end. In April 2006, his family announced that he had been moved into a convalescent center after being diagnosed with vascular dementia, in which repeated minor strokes damage the brain.

The center said funeral arrangements were pending.

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AP Special Writer David Espo contributed in Washington contributed to this story.


___

July 4, 2008 - 11:26 a.m. EDT

Copyright 2008, The Associated Press.

[jhofficial]

A sad day for NC. Doesn't really matter if you agreed with him or not on his political views, we have lost one of the last true individuals in politics that actually let you know his stance and he had enough principal and character to stand behind them no matter what the personal cost.

[bleweyez19]

Man i hate to hear that i agreed with him sometime and didn't others but i liked that way hae hadnled himself and didn't give a **** about what people thought he told it how it was, PERIOD!

[L8models]

Very sad day indeed. Hated by many, loved by many more. He was a true conservative, anyone remember his daily editorials on WRAL? RIP Mr. Helms.

http://i25.tinypic.com/50mghu.jpg

[jhofficial]

I dont know all the details (cant remember) But He started, owned or was on air broadcast talent right here in Roanoke Rapids NC with a little AM radio station WCBT, which is still on air today.

[L8models]

I dont know all the details (cant remember) But He started, owned or was on air broadcast talent right here in Roanoke Rapids NC with a little AM radio station WCBT, which is still on air today.

You are correct John, after serving in the Navy, Helms returned to The Raleigh Times as city editor in 1945, but he soon left to work at a radio station in Roanoke Rapids.

[jhofficial]

Heres another fact I didnt know:

He was one of the founders and serves as a director of Camp Willow Run, a Youth Camp for Christ at Littleton, North Carolina.



I went to that camp when I was a kid.

[jhofficial]

I thought I had heard the story about wcbt

Professional Career

Starting in 1939, Helms worked part time as a proofreader for The News & Observer in Raleigh. Offered a full-time job, he quit college.

Through 1941, he worked his way to sports writer and news reporter, then switched to The Raleigh Times, the paper's afternoon counterpart, to become assistant city editor.

He worked at the Raleigh Times for a year.

After serving in the Navy, Helms returned to The Raleigh Times as city editor in 1945, but he soon left to work at a radio station in Roanoke Rapids.

From 1948 to 1951, he was news and program director of WRAL in Raleigh.

He then served as administrative assistant to U.S. Sens. Willis Smith and Alton Lennon from 1951 to 1953.

From 1953 to 1960, he was executive director of the N.C. Bankers Association.

From 1960 to 1972, he was executive vice president and vice chairman of the Capitol Broadcasting Co. in Raleigh

[L8models]

So many interesting facts about Jesse.

[jhofficial]

So many interesting facts about Jesse.

Its sad, but its also neat to look back and see were someone who had such a huge impact on the world had an impact on this little rural area around Halifax CO.

[L8models]

Its sad, but its also neat to look back and see were someone who had such a huge impact on the world had an impact on this little rural area around Halifax CO.

He stuck up for what he believed in, no matter what others thought and no matter what political impact it had on him. He had guts and even those that hated him, knew it. He had traditional moral values, the kind this country has drifted away from. It's damn sad to know how much this country has changed, and how it's drifted away from the values that Jesse preached and set in stone years ago. It almost makes me mad, knowing it was his time to leave us.

[JRhodes]

Jesse was a stand up guy. If he said it, he meant it. It really is a sad day for NC.

And before ya'll start on me, I know he was a Republican. But I'm starting to be swayed the Republican way.

[L8models]

Jesse was a stand up guy. If he said it, he meant it. It really is a sad day for NC.

And before ya'll start on me, I know he was a Republican. But I'm starting to be swayed the Republican way.

Jesse was actually a Democrat until 1970, when he switched to the Republican Party.

[L8models]

Here are some historical quotes by Mr. Helms. (As long as we're being honest today ...) Some words may offend some readers. Consider yourself advised and read further by your own choice. So, while we can respect his death and wish him peace, let's be honest about what he was, ok?


"The New York Times and Washington Post are both infested with homosexuals themselves. Just about every person down there is a homosexual or lesbian."


"The University of Negroes and Communists" (referring to Chapel Hill)


"All I know is that D'Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious."
-- Responding to evidence that Roberto D'Aubuisson, whom he supported in the Senate, directed Salvadoran death squads that murdered thousands of civilians.


"Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade-school classes that teach our children that CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING and MURDER of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior."
-- Fund raising mailer, 1996


"It's their deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct that is responsible for the disease."
-- Justifying his refusal to give financial support to families of AIDS victims.


"Homosexuals are weak, morally sick wretches."
-- 1995 radio broadcast


"She's a damn lesbian. I am not going to put a lesbian in a position like that. If you want to call me a bigot, fine."
-- Explaining why he was opposing the appointment of a woman for a cabinet post. Worthy of note is the fact that his granddaughter is a lesbian.

"They should ask their parents if it would be all right for their son or daughter to marry a Negro."
-- In response to Duke University students holding a vigil after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, 1968


"To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing." -- responding in 1956 to criticism that a fictional black character in his newspaper column was offensive.


"I've been portrayed as a caveman by some. That's not true.
I'm a conservative progressive, and that means I think all men
are equal, be they slants, beaners or niggers."
--North Carolina Progressive, February 6, 1985


"The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint
that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic,
and interfere with other men's rights."


He's also refused to apologize for making statements that homosexuals who die of AIDS deserve their fate. He wrote back to one mother of an AIDS victim that he was sad only for her son's decision "to play Russian roulette with his sexuality."

[JRhodes]

And the man was telling the truth with every statement.

[JRhodes]

Strom Thurmond started out as a Democrat too! But that was back when a Southern Democrat meant something. Not this liberal BS it stands for today.