How Jesse Helms Made a Difference [Outstanding Tribute Alert]

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 5, 2008 | John Fund

[Zakeet]

If Ronald Reagan was the sunny and optimistic face of modern conservatism, the uncompromisingly defiant exemplar of it was Jesse Helms, who died yesterday at age 86.

While Reagan has undergone a revisionist makeover by many historians who now recognize his accomplishments, Helms is still the conservative liberals most love to hate. But while they still disdain his views, many liberal groups are now using their own forms of the rhetorical and campaign techniques that Helms honed to perfection.

Jesse Helms was an influential television commentator in North Carolina when he decided to leave the Democratic Party, winning a U.S. Senate seat as a Republican in 1972. He went on to win four more terms, with a reputation as the Senate's most principled warrior on behalf of social conservatism, anti-Communism, limits on union power, and an assertive foreign policy that rejected State Department caution. Like Reagan, many of his views appear to have been validated. Others, such as his blind spot on racial issues and mean-spirited comments against gays were troublesome, but even the stubborn Helms made moves to modify his image in those areas late in life.

Two events early in his Senate career showcased Helms's unflinching nature and his political skills. In 1975, he engineered a visit to the U.S. by Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn over the objections of the State Department.

[Snip]

That incident helped spur Reagan to challenge Ford for the GOP nomination the next year. Reagan lost the first five primaries, and he entered the North Carolina contest broke and under pressure to pull out. But Helms and his chief strategist Tom Ellis refused to give up. They employed Helms's huge, direct-mail list to build a grass-roots army of volunteers and raise money to air 30-minute speeches by Reagan across the state.

[Zakeet]

Jesse Helms was a major influence on American conservatism, but his career provides a blueprint for anyone who represents an embattled minority viewpoint. You can, with persistence and unflinching determination, change the political odds in your favor.

Much more in the article. The excerpt doesn't do it justice.

[mkjessup]

The Gipper is no doubt greeting his old friend upstairs.

We have lost another great Patriot.

Rest in Peace Senator!

[iopscusa]

True Conservatives like Jessie Helms and Ronald Reagan seem to know the enemy very well, they were inside...and were great fighters which is why the Left was adament to destroy them.

[mkjessup]

You got that right FRiend!

[kittymyrib]

Good for John Fund. He penned this tribute to a great patriot when other “conservatives” will not recognize his passing.
RIP, Sen. Helms. You were a man of principle.

[johna61]

Too bad we have RINO moron like Juan McLame running for president.Helms and Reagan were true conservatives not liberal puppets like McPain.

[nathanbedford]

I suppose Mr. Fund's obituary is about as good as we can hope to get concerning the matter of Jesse Helms and race. John fund notes that hypocrisy of the mainstream media in its treatment of Jesse Helms as compared to its treatment of Senator Sam Erwin. Fund also acknowledges the real accomplishments in this area by Helms such as his integrated broadcasting record and his aid to Africa.

Nonetheless, even though a Helms' record in many respects compares "favorably" with Erwin's, Jesse Helms will forever remain in the Nathan Bedford Forrest of his day. This is important because liberals not only write the news, for the most part they write our history. Thus, he who is Borked by journalists is rarely vouchsafed his reputation by historians.

Our role and our duty here on Free Republic is to defend the innocent from being Borked and vigorously Swift Boat the guilty. Too often, our duty is a lonely one because Republicans tend to decamp with the first rumblings of distant artillery.

Liberals loved to hate Jesse Helms because he was the figure of all the things which paper over the hypocrisy of the left. Bereft of fresh ideas, liberals justify their empty philosophy which disguises their very dangerous need for power with the smug belief that conservatives are bigots and they are not; that conservatives are racists and they are not. Hence, it does not matter what the truth is about Jesse Helms. The obverse also obtains: it does not matter what the truth is about Barak Obama.

[Vigilanteman]

Amen, brother. The Gipper and Jesse are the two finest men of the generation which, for a season at least, halted the slide of the American republic into the abyss of European style wimpery and socialism.

They made America worth saving again. Yes, others helped and others played important roles, but no two men were more villianized by he enemedia for their leadership in this great cause.

[labette]

"Too often, our duty is a lonely one because Republicans tend to decamp with the first rumblings of distant artillery."

Painful, but true. I wonder if we will ever be able to elect leaders like these again.

[P8riot]

Back in the mid 80’s the Navy had massively screwed up my pay and I had tried for almost 6 months to get it straightened out. One call to my (then) Senator, Jesse Helms, and it was fixed in two weeks, including a killer check for all of the back pay they owed me, and a written apology.

[IncPen]

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