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Jesse Helms' life
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ONLINE EXTRA
Published: July 4, 2008
Jesse Helms: Oct 18, 1921 - July 4, 2008
Oct. 18, 1921 – Born in Monroe.
1938-41: Attended Wingate College and Wake Forest College.
1941-45: Served in the U.S. Navy, primarily as a recruiter in North Carolina.
1946-50: Moved into broadcasting, working for WBCT-Radio in Roanoke Rapids and WRAL-radio in Raleigh.
1950-53: Worked as a political adviser to segregationist Democrat Willis Smith, a Raleigh lawyer who defeated incumbent Sen. Frank Porter Graham in the primary. Moved to Washington to be an aide to Smith and worked briefly for Sen. Alton Lennon after Smith's death.
1953-60: Returned to North Carolina after accepting a job as the executive director of the N.C. Banker's Association.
1957-60: Served two terms on the Raleigh City Council.
1960-72: Worked as a political commentator on WRAL-TV where his conservative views eventually made him a household name in Eastern North Carolina and propelled him to the Senate.
1970:Changed his political affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
1972: Won his first term in the Senate, beating Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Galifiankis and becoming the first Republican to elected to the Senate from North Carolina in the 20th Century.
1976: Nominated for vice president at the GOP national convention despite asking to have his name removed from the ballot.
1978: Defeated Democrat John Ingram to win his second term in the Senate.
1981-86: Served as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Credited with saving the tobacco support program by overseeing its overhaul.
1984: Defeated Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt in what was then the most expensive Senate race in history.
1987: Started first stint as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position he used to advance his views on foreign policy and anti-Communism stance.
1989: Led the fight against federal spending for the arts and attacked the National Endowment for the Arts for grants that supported artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe.
1990: Defeated Democrat Harvey Gantt to win his fourth term.
1992: Underwent eight hours of heart surgery to bypass four blocked arteries and replace with leaky valve with a valve from the heart of a pig.
1995: Regained his position as Foreign Relations chairman when Republicans win control of the Senate back from Democrats. Used the job as a pulpit to advance his anti-United Nations views.
1996: Defeated Gantt in a rematch for his fifth term.
Aug. 22, 2001: Announced his intention to retire from the Senate.
2002: Softened his views on AIDS, saying that he "was ashamed" that he hadn't done more to fight the epidemic.
2005: Helms published his memoirs. He appeared at a Raleigh book store to sign copies but did not make a speech.
2006: Helms' family moved him into a convalescent center after he was diagnosed with vascular dementia.
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