Given his past, Helms may not have been the best advocate for a message of colorblind equal opportunity, but he was never one to shy away from a fight. Did Helms “oppose civil rights,” as the
Times put it? Actually, the Senator No of 1990 merely opposed a certain vision of them.
For many liberals, Helms was an outright villain — a useful bogeyman in their scaremongering direct-mail pitches. Those who got to know him personally, however, became familiar with a man who was unfailingly cordial in his personal dealings. He went out of his way to visit with North Carolinians, especially students who dropped by his office in Washington. He and his wife raised two daughters and also adopted a boy who suffered from cerebral palsy. Another politician might have made a spectacle of this act of generosity. Helms, however, was admirably reticent.
Instead of thinking about what Senator No was against, it might be better to remember what Jesse Helms stood for: freedom for oppressed people around the globe, a strong national defense, balanced budgets, a right to life for the unborn, prayer in schools, and many other causes of mainstream conservatism.
Critically, he was for Ronald Reagan. In 1976, Helms supported Reagan against Gerald Ford, the incumbent Republican president. Reagan’s challenge was floundering before the North Carolina primary. Then Helms and his allies helped deliver their state, breathing life into Reagan’s effort. Although Ford ultimately secured the GOP nomination, Reagan became the party’s heir apparent. It is not far-fetched to believe that without the assistance of Helms in 1976, Reagan would not have won the presidential election in 1980.
That is a worthy legacy for any conservative: to have won one for the Gipper.
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