Jesse Helms
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Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr.was an American politician and a leader in the conservative movement. He was elected five times as a Republican to the United States Senate from North Carolina. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001 he had a major voice in foreign policy. Helms helped organize and fund the conservative resurgence in the 1970s, focusing on Ronald Reagan's quest for the White House as well as helping many local and regional candidates...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth18 October 1921
CityMonroe, NC
CountryUnited States of America
Jesse Helms quotes about
It had been my feeling that AIDS was a disease largely spread by reckless and voluntary sexual and drug-abusing behavior, and that it would probably be confined to those in high-risk populations, ... I was wrong.
As you may know, I've just completed my memoir for Random House. Many of the questions you've asked are discussed at length in there.
Why build a zoo when we can just put up a fence around Chapel Hill?
I have tried at every point to seek God's wisdom on the decisions I made, and I made it my business to speak up on behalf of the things God tells us are important to Him.
If you want to call me a bigot, fine.
On your principles, you should never yield; you should be prepared to be defeated. Nobody likes to be defeated, but you should let everybody know in the most articulate and thoughtful and civil way you can (you don't go out and pick fights with people) that in certain matters that you define as matters of principle you will not budge, you cannot yield, you will not compromise. If you don't have the votes or the winning argument, then you stand to be defeated and rolled over, and you'll just have to come back another day.
This is an area where North Carolina does excel. I have known more colorful North Carolina political figures than I have colorless ones.
I want our government to encourage and protect freedom as well as our traditions of faith and family.
We are now considering legislation based on statistics that include name-calling at public rallies as crimes. Are we going on to the school yards of this country and when two kids get angry with each other and call each other names -- what are we going to do, cart them over to the reformatory or add them to the list of 'hate crimes' perpetrators? This is ridiculous.
All I know is that D'Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious.
That is why I fought against abortion and that is why if I were still in the Senate I would be doing everything I could to defend the sanctity of marriage.
I worked in the media from the late 30's through the early 70's. Politics in general became more liberal both nationally and within the state as the years passed.
I was with some Vietnamese recently, and some of them were smoking two cigarettes at the same time. That's the kind of customers we need!
Conservatism is a hard choice for a society that has become accustomed to big government and big entitlements promoted by liberals.