Former Sen. Jesse Helms, 86, Dies On The 4th
Friday July 4, 2008
Former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) died in the early morning of the 4th of July, according to news reports. Helms was first elected to the US Senate in 1972; he retired at the end of his fifth term (30 years) in 2002. When Republicans held a majority in the Senate, Helms chaired the Agriculture and Foreign Relations Committees.
Helms had to fight to retain his Senate seat, however. In 1984 he defeated sitting Governor Jim Hunt; in in 1990 and 1996 he defeated former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt.
Born in Monroe, NC, on 18 Oct. 1921, Helms attended, but did not graduate from, Wake Forest College and served in the Navy during World War II. In 1950, he campaigned for segregationist Senate candidate, Willis Smith; he subsequently served as the Senator's chief aide. In 1957, Helms won a seat on the Raleigh city council. He became a commentator for WRAL, Raleigh, in 1960, and was later city editor at The Raleigh Times.
On the web: Bloomberg, MSNBC, Washington Post / Newsweek.
Remembering Jess Helms - Tom Head, Civil Liberty