Jesse Helms

North Carolina Senator from North Carolina Jesse Helms. Image Source: U.S. Senate Historical Office

During his five terms as U. S. senator, from 1973-2003, Jesse Helms emerged as the single most enduring and ultimately powerful figure in the Republican revolution in North Carolina politics, orchestrating via his political machine, the National Congressional Club, the end of the Democratic monopoly on political power in the state. A native of Monroe, N. C. who attended Wingate Junior College and Wake Forest College but graduated from neither, Helms grew his political successes from a substantial popular base, especially strong in eastern N.C., garnered during his decade plus run as a bombastic conservative commentator with WRAL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh. Less well known is that a building block in Helms’ base was ECU, and most especially, its intensely political leader, Dr. Leo W. Jenkins. While many ECU faculty and much of the student body found Helms’ opinions anathema, Jenkins recognized Helms’ clout and sought to harness it for the good of the university. As “a very good friend” of Jenkins and parent of two ECU students (daughters, Jane and Nancy), Helms emerged as one of ECU’s more noteworthy political supporters in the late twentieth century, helping to secure for it an impregnable line of defense resulting from his formidable political power. Helms made it clear to all that he supported ECU, and that those who didn’t – including UNC and the Board of Governors – were his often ridiculed enemies.

An early indication of Helms’ special relationship with ECU came in the mid 1960s when the General Assembly tabled Jenkins’ request for funding for a music building. Never willing to be rebuffed, Jenkins sought Helms’ advice. Helms in turn introduced Jenkins to A. J. Fletcher (1887-1979), founder and then owner of Capital Broadcasting Corporation and WRAL-TV station. Fletcher had, in 1960, elevated Helms to broadcast prominence as the political commentator at WRAL. Helms, one of the first political talking heads, appeared on week nights with five-minute commentaries, often criticizing the civil rights movement, the hippie counterculture, the anti-war movement, liberals, communism, etc. A media sensation, Helms’ remarks were broadcast on an additional 70 radio stations statewide. With Helms’ encouragement, his boss, Fletcher, joined forces with Jenkins in politicking for state funding for the ECC music building even after the state budget had been “locked up.” Fletcher’s clout secured, reportedly, the unlocking of the budget and, suddenly, funding for the new building. Out of gratitude, in 1971, at Jenkins’ request, the ECU Board of Trustees named its music building after Fletcher.

Another indication came in 1973, shortly after Helms had been elected to his first term as U. S. senator. On Jan. 3, 1973, Helms and Jenkins “announced jointly” Helms’ plans to open a senate office on the ECU campus, with ECU reportedly providing the office space in the newly constructed Social Sciences Building (later, Brewster). Initially, Jenkins explained the decision to let Helms use A-342 as “a matter of public service,” noting that the office could be a useful means of acquainting students with the functions of a senator’s office. Helms’ office added that the ECU office was the first in eastern North Carolina in years, and an experiment of sorts that might be repeated on other campuses. Later, it was reported that use of A-342 would be paid for with Senate funds. According to Vice Chancellor Robert Holt, no ECU monies were to be used to cover the expenses of the office. Helms’ plan was approved by the N. C. Attorney General, Robert Morgan, who also served as chair of the ECU Board of Trustees. Morgan stated that such use was perfectly legal and represented no favoritism on the part of ECU.

Within months, Helms, now a freshman senator in Washington, D. C., announced his support for expanding ECU’s one-year medical program into a four-year, degree-granting medical school. In doing so, Helms broke rank with the Republican Gov. Jim Holshouser who had publicly insisted that the UNC Board of Governors decide the fate of ECU’s medical program. Bypassing Holshouser, Helms made his announcement to the North Carolina Executive Committee and had copies of his stand circulated to leading newspapers throughout the state. Helms insisted that his support was not politically motivated, but instead simply meant to ensure the Board of Governors realize that many North Carolinians feel “it is not acting fairly and responsibly in this issue.” Helms’ support was hardly the decisive factor in ECU’s ultimate victory, but it surely sent a message to Democratic lawmakers that the Republican Party as led by Helms stood ready to champion the ECU cause if need be.

Although a lifelong Democrat, Jenkins claimed close friendship with Helms. Seeking to make sense of the political contradiction in this friendship, Jenkins declared that Helms’ support grew out of the Democratic fold, and even stated that he, Jenkins, did not see Helms “as a Republican senator,” but instead as a North Carolina senator elected because of the Democratic vote. In discussing Helms’ 1972 victory over Nick Galifianakis, Jenkins emphasized that Helms, as a popular radio personality who played well in the east, had a built-in following. He also admitted that North Carolina at that time was, “whether we like it or not and whether we – and we’re not condoning it, we’re stating a fact – this still is a WASP society.” In 1976, when Helms campaigned on campus in Memorial Gym, Jenkins attended the event, suggesting a level of implicit support through his very presence.

In 1980, Helms’ ties to ECU reached new heights: his National Congressional Club lent its substantial financial and political backing to ECU professor of political science, Dr. John P. East, in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Robert Morgan. By a narrow margin often attributed to his campaign’s media blitz financed by outside money through Helms’ Congressional Club, East, an ultra-conservative, defeated the incumbent, becoming the first ECU faculty member ever to have risen to such high national office. In the view of conservative political commentator Patrick Buchanan, East’s election made Helms now look like “the liberal senator from North Carolina.” In 1986, however, East’s battle with hypothyroidism contributed to his tragic suicide that year. Helms, East’s political mentor, commented that Sen. East’s death was “a tragedy of monumental proportions.”

Throughout the 1990s, Helms remained a close political friend of ECU especially as his conservative rhetoric continued to play well with eastern voters. His political leanings aside, there can be little doubt that in his work with Leo Jenkins to grow the campus, its programs, and to gain for its faculty unprecedented levels of political visibility and impact, Helms was one of the university’s most consequential and controversial friends.

Sources:

• Barber, Mark. “Helms Speaks.” East Carolinian. Nov. 6, 1984. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57678
• “Black College Students Boycott Helms’ Campus Appearance.” East Carolinian. Oct. 18, 1984. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58026
• Buchanan, Patrick. “Liberal commentators are wrong once again.” Dayton Daily News. Dec. 1, 1980. P. 10.
• Christensen, Rob. “Helms: A political trailblazer.” News and Observer. Oct. 24, 1996. Pp. 1, 20.
• “ECU Donates Campus Office To Sen. Helms.” Charlotte Observer. January 4, 1973. P. 28.
• “ECU Names Music Building For Fletcher.” News and Observer. March 10, 1971. P. 28.
• “Former President Calls Helms One of ‘Few Nuts’ in Upcoming Memoirs.” East Carolinian. Nov. 2, 1982. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57510
• Forrest, J. Thomas. “Jesse Helms at tobacco market.” August 1, 1984. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15167
• Forrest, J. Thomas. “Senators visit tobacco market.” August 6, 1984. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15172
• Fray, Chrystal. “Helms, Victor in Race: Surprising Black Vote. Ebony Herald. Nov. 1984. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57004
• Hammer, Mike. “Environmentalists Oppose Helm’s Bill On Pesticide Labeling.” East Carolinian. July 14, 1982. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57487
• Hampton, Tim. “Helms campaigns in Greenville.” East Carolinian. Nov. 1, 1990. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58242
• Hatch, Betty. “Jesse Helms speaks in Memorial Gym.” Fountainhead. February 24, 1976. Pp. 1, 6. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/40025
• “Helms For ECU Proposal.” News and Observer. April 18, 1973. P. 30
• “Helms given office in Social Science Building.” Fountainhead. Jan. 18, 1973. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/39664
• “Helms Plans To Establish ECU Office.” Rocky Mount Telegram. Jan. 4, 1973. P. 6.
• “Helms says he was unaware that East possibly was troubled.” News and Observer. June 30, 1986. P. 6.
• “Helms To Open Senate Office On ECU Campus.” Asheville Citizen-Times. Jan. 4, 1973. P. 12.
• “Helms: washed up, out-of-date.” East Carolinian. July 26, 1995.
• Hiner, Patti. “Hunt vs. Helms: The Great Debate.” Ebony Herald. October 1984. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57003
• “Interview with Dr. Leo Jenkins conducted in Greenville, N.C. on December 12, 1973.” Jack Bass and Walter De Vries, interviewers. Southern Oral History Program Collection. Southern Historical Collection. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexablecontent/uuid:efb96dc3-50c0-40c5-a76b-8a79d7d86ed6?dl=true
• “Jesse returns for six more.” East Carolinian. Nov. 8, 1990. Pp. 1, 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58244
• “Jesse Helms.” David B. Stevens Papers, 1943-1946, 1973-1988, undated; East Carolina Manuscript Collection #779. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/1907
• “Jesse Helms, Robert Morgan, and Jimmy Green.” May 12, 1978. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56657
• Kilcoyne, Dennis. “Moral Majority, Helms Register N. C. Voters.” East Carolinian. July 13, 1983. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57564
• “Leo Jenkins oral history interview, March 31, 1982.” Mary Jo Bratton, interviewer. University Archives # UA90.24.06.13. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/60927
• Leo Warren Jenkins Papers, 1943-1980. East Carolina Manuscript Collection #360. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0360
• Link, William A. Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.
• “Morgan worried over Helms’ endorsement of John East.” East Carolinian. Nov. 6, 1979. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57229
• O’Neill, Patrick. “‘Dump Jesse’ Campaign Starts.” East Carolinian. Sept. 9, 1982. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57495
• “Robert Morgan and Jesse Helms.” 1978. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56766
• “Robert Morgan, Bob Scott, and Jesse Helms.” 1978. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56658
• “Robert Morgan, Jesse Helms, and Gerald Ford.” 1975-1977. East Carolina Manuscript Collection. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56895
• “Sen. Helms To Open Office At ECU.” Danville Register. Jan. 4, 1973. P. 24.
• “Senate Office Announced.” News and Observer. January 4, 1973. P. 8.
• Swaim, Robert. “N. C. Congressional Club honors Senator Helms.” Fountainhead. Dec. 6, 1977. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/58026
• Swaim, Robert. “Voters re-elect Helms to Senate; wins by ‘comfortable’ margin.” Fountainhead. Nov. 9, 1978. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57159
• Williams, Kay and Richy Smith. “Senator Jesse Helms speaks in Greenville.” Fountainhead. October 19, 1978. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/57155

Related Materials

Senator Jesse Helms (left) banters with the press at the opening of the tobacco market in Greenville North Carolina. Image Source: Daily Reflector Negative Collection (#741), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Senators Robert Morgan and Jesse Helms of North Carolina walking in East Carolina University's graduation procession in 1978. Image Source: Robert Morgan Papers (#268), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

U.S. Senator Jesse Helms speaking at a Greenville warehouse. Image Source: Daily Reflector Negative Collection (#741), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Senator Robert B. Morgan, Senator Jesse Helms, and President Gerald R. Ford with other Congressional leaders, exiting Air Force One. Image Source: Robert Morgan Papers (#268), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Senator Jesse Helms, Senator Robert Morgan, Lt. Governor Jimmy Green and an unidentified person at the spring 1978 East Carolina University Commencement Ceremony. Image Source: Robert Morgan Papers (#268), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

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