Jesse Helms, US Senator
Friday, July 4th, 2008
Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms died today at the age of 86 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The cause of his death has not yet been disclosed. Helms was a conservative icon whose convictions drove him to fight liberalism in the senate. The North Carolina Republican opposed abortion and many civil rights issues, including the bill that gave Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. an honorary national holiday. It was his opposition to such issues that caused many to consider him a racist. In his memoir “Here’s Where I Stand” Helms denied such allocations.
