Whether one loves or hates Jesse Helms, the conclusion of his 26-year career in the Senate will mark the end of one of the most notorious tenures in the history of Congress.
For the past quarter of a century, Helms has been one of the Senate's most polarizing figures, despised by his political enemies and cherished by his allies. He has been lauded for his work on issues affecting his constituents, but has also been harshly chastised for using petty political tactics to push his agenda through the Senate or to impede the legislative program of his opponents. He has been credited for his commitment to fight adamantly for the principles he believes in, but has been questioned strongly as to whether these principles are outdated or injurious to the American people.
Days after Helms announced his retirement from the Senate in 2002, Washington Post columnist David Broder, long-known for his even-tempered approach to reporting, lashed out at Helms in a strongly worded column.
Broder called him "the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country," for his anti-affirmative action statements in his campaigns against black candidate Harvey Gantt in 1990 and 1996.
Broder also asserts, "What is unique about Helms--and from my viewpoint, unforgivable--is his willingness to pick at the scab of the great wound of American history, the legacy of slavery and segregation, and to inflame racial resentment against African-Americans."
Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), a Helms surrogate, paints Helms in a much different light. "Senator Helms is the living embodiment of a OSouthern statesman,' and has served as an example to me and many of my colleagues by the way he has conducted his public life," Jones said on the day of Helms' retirement announcement. "His grace and strength will be sorely missed by the Senate and the United States Congress as a whole."
However, another Republican member of North Carolina's congressional delegation, Rep. Howard Coble, is not quite as forceful as Jones in his defense of the senator. "I wouldn't go as far as Mr. Broder would, but he's a good journalist and I won't quarrel with him," Coble says. "I think that may be a little too severe against Jesse."
Helms' Sept. 1 announcement did not come as a surprise to many who had predicted the aging and ailing senator would likely call it quits after the completion of his term in 2002. Nonetheless, it sent shockwaves around Capitol Hill as it represented the loss of a powerful member of the Republican caucus. Likewise, Helms' forthcoming absence from the political landscape means that the Democrats will need to find a new target to serve as the symbol of what they term the "scary" right wing of the GOP.
"From the time Senator Helms came to the Senate, he made clear that he was willing to do what was necessary to make his views known. And obviously, he was a conservative icon," fellow N.C. Sen. John Edwards says. "I think he's clearly had an effect on that wing of the Republican Party. I don't think there's any doubt about that dramatic effect."
Coble, a conservative Republican who equates his political ideology to Helms', admits that Helms had a striking effect on the course his party took within federal government, especially as a former chair and current ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"I think he's always been a strong voice for strong defense and, of course, that's very great today when you see the [current] problems," Coble says. He also praises Helms for his reluctance to accept what world leaders were saying at face value, and for his staunch fiscal conservatism.
However, although Edwards, Helms' political adversary, has often stated his respect for Helms on a personal level, Coble, a political ally of Helms, has criticized the longtime senator for the way he has run his campaigns.
Not only does Coble regret the negativity that emanated from Helms' campaign in 1984 against Jim Hunt and subsequently against former Charlotte mayor Gantt in 1990 and 1996, he also believes that Helms' lavish campaign expenditures directly contradict his message of fiscal conservatism."I think that as the leader of the conservative movement, I was disappointed with the amount of money that he spent in his campaigns," Coble says. "Now, if he had been the leader of a liberal movement, liberals enjoy spending other people's money. But conservatives don't."
National political considerations aside, the implications that Helms' retirement will have on the state of North Carolina are tremendous. Whether its constituents elect former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot, former GOP presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall or former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles--all of whom have declared their candidacy for the 2002 campaign--the Tar Heel State will certainly have a very different figure in the Senate seat.
If the Democrats have their way, not only will Bowles or Marshall occupy Helms' seat in the Senate, but they will frame the succession as a change that has been long overdue. Edwards, who for the most part has had genial relations with his Republican counterpart, believes such a change is necessary to bring North Carolina in line with the rest of the country.
"Senator Helms has played an important and significant role in the history of North Carolina, but North Carolina and the South, in general, have changed," Edwards says. "It's time for a new generation of leadership in North Carolina and the South."
But Jones believes Helms' has set an excellent example for what North Carolina should look for in its next senator, describing the conservative stalwart as "a giant."
"No one has done more for the people of North Carolina, the United States of America or the conservative movement than Senator Helms," Jones says. "I'm saddened to know that he will no longer be in Washington to lead our delegation."
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