Jesse Helms Center: Just Say "No"

Updated June 9, 2009

Mission
In 1987, the Jesse Helms Center was formed in an effort to further the values of the late Senator to younger generations. Its mission is “to promote traditional American values and the principles upon which our nation was founded and that Senator Jesse Helms advanced throughout his career. This is accomplished through education, public policy promotion, and historical preservation.”

The Center is known today for its public lecture series, an outreach to young people through the Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge, training programs for young people who are contemplating careers in government, seminars for teachers who seek to educate students on the Bill of Rights and other core conservative values. The Center also conducts citizen seminars on a host of government issues, as well as the Laws of Life essay competition for character education in middle and high schools.

The Helms Center is located in building across the street from the entrance to Wingate University. It includes a wing for the Helms archives but, in keeping with Senator’s clear directive, the building is no dusty museum, but rather a command center for the programs the Helms Center uses to honor Senator Helms and sustain the values he held dear throughout his entire political career, such as the promotion of free enterprise principles and what the Center calls “traditional American values”.

The work of the Helms Center involves education, historical preservation, and public policy promotion through a variety of programs for students, scholars, and the general public. The Center is funded by individuals, foundations and corporations.

History
Over two decades ago, the president of Wingate College (now Wingate University), Dr. Paul Corts, approached U. S. Senator Jesse Helms (R, NC) to request the Senator consider designating Wingate as the repository for his official papers. Although Senator Helms had previously been contacted by a number of other schools, all much higher profile than Wingate, Helms had a special affinity for Wingate because he had attended school at what was then Wingate Junior College, although he did not receive a degree from the school. He later received an honorary degree from Wingate. Wingate is located in Union County, North Carolina. Helms’ hometown of Monroe is also located in Union County. These local connections led Helms to choose Wingate as the home of his papers.

After the decision was made to locate the Senator’s papers at Wingate, some friends of the Senator and supporters of Wingate proposed to Helms the idea of creating a special building for the papers. The building would serve not only as a repository for the papers, but also serve as a shrine of sorts to honor the Senator’s political career and his ideology. Senator Helms originally rejected the idea of creating what he called “a dusty museum.” The Senator’s wife, Dorothy (Dot) Helms, convinced him to give his blessing to the creation of an organization that would put its emphasis not so much on preserving dusty papers in a dusty museum, but on programs to carry on the Helms legacy by educating students and individuals to appreciate the political principles that the Helms had advocated his entire career.

To understand the philosophy of the Jesse Helms Center, one must first understand Senator Helms. Born on October 18, 1921, in Monroe, North Carolina, Helms attended Wingate Junior College and Wake Forest University, then took his first full-time job as a sports reporter for the News & Observer (N&O) of Raleigh, North Carolina. While at the N&O, he met and married Dorothy (Dot) Coble, a society reporter for the paper. They married in 1942 before Helms began his service in the United States Navy.

After serving stateside as a recruiter during World War II, Helms returned to North Carolina as a registered Democrat to pursue his interest in journalism and politics. He became the city news editor of the Raleigh Times, and later moved over to radio and television political commentary.

Helms’ political career began as an informal advisor to the 1950 U. S. Senate campaign of Willis Smith, a conservative Democrat, lawyer and former president of the American Bar Association. When Smith got to Washington he hired Helms as his administrative assistant, but his time in Washington was cut short when Smith died in 1953.

Returning to North Carolina, Helms served as executive director of the North Carolina Bankers Association until 1960, when he moved on to become the executive vice-president, vice chairman of the board, and assistant chief executive officer of the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company. While at the broadcasting firm, Helms built a reputation as conservative political commentator through his daily editorials on WRAL-TV in Raleigh. The editorials, which he delivered at the end of each night's local news broadcast, were controversial, but they made Helms a known quantity throughout eastern North Carolina and he became very popular with conservatives voters—both Democrats and Republicans.

In 1957, Helms used this popularity to win a seat on the Raleigh City Council, where he served for four years. But in 1972, Helms ran for United States Senate as a newly-minted Republican. He won the Republican primary and went on to defeat Congressman Nick Galifianakis of Durham in the general election. With some help from the coattails of President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, Helms became the first Republican elected to the Senate from North Carolina in the 20th century. Those same coattails also gave a boost to the Republican nominee for governor in 1972, and Jim Holshouser became the first Republican governor elected in North Carolina in the 20th century.

Serving five terms in the US Senate, Jesse Helms can certainly be credited with being the most successful Republican politician in North Carolina history and a major figure in transforming North Carolina from a one-party state dominated by Democrats to a competitive two-party state, at least at the presidential level. But he has always been a controversial and polarizing figure in the state. Still, in five statewide campaigns, Democrats took their best shot and they never could defeat him.

As a result of continuing health problems, including bone maladies, prostate cancer and heart disease, Helms chose not to seek another Senate term in 2002. He passed away on July 4, 2008. To this day, Jesse Helms remains the longest-serving popularly-elected US senator in North Carolina history.

Programs
Archives – The Archives Program at the Jesse Helms Center serves as the official repository for the congressional and other papers of Senator Helms. These papers cover his 30-year Senate career from 1973-2003. Some of the other materials included in the collection are the personal papers of Senator Helms, which document his pre-Senate career (covering Helms’ activities during the 1950s through the 1970s). These papers document Helms’ role as Executive Vice-President of WRAL television station in Raleigh, NC, his service on the Raleigh City Council, and his civic activities in the Raleigh area.

The Jesse Helms Center Archives collects papers of historical significance as follows:

• The papers, both political and personal, of Senator Jesse Helms, his family, and his administrative staff.
• The papers of any individual, group, or entity associated with the “Modern Conservative Movement.”
• The administrative records of The Jesse Helms Center Foundation.
• The papers of any elected or appointed senator or representative from the state of North Carolina; including those who served in Congress since 1789 to present. Priority will be given to those members whose papers, in the judgment of the archivist, will best enhance the collection of Senator Helms.
• The papers of unsuccessful candidates in significant elections.
• The papers of political groups or individuals who influence elections and policies. These may include, but are not limited to, public policy experts and scholars, media individuals, lobbyists, and campaign volunteers.

Foreign Policy School – The Foreign Policy School at the Jesse Helms Center is a two-day program for young professionals and senior or graduate level students who wish to “develop a better understanding of the basics of a conservative foreign policy and the communication skills necessary to promote public policy positions in the current media environment.”

The Center posits what it calls the “Helms Principles,” upon which Senator Helms based his foreign policy philosophy. These principles (as set forth by the Helms Center) include the following:

• Protect Our National Sovereignty – Our founders understood from the first days of our nationhood that no one can speak for America, but America. We can never be a party to any organization or agreement that removes from this nation the absolute authority to make our own decisions. While it is appropriate to seek cooperation among nations with compatible goals, it is never in our national interest to be a party to agreements that would give any other entity authority over our troops, our trade, our tariffs, our citizens or our policies.
• Promote a Strong National Defense – The pages of political history stretching to antiquity illustrate the truth that there is no virtue in ignoring the danger created by insufficient defenses. Nations who have lowered their defenses, with the best of intentions, inevitably found themselves vulnerable to attack by nations with the worst of intentions. Our nation must be firm in its resolve to never have its autonomy or freedom threatened by any enemy. That resolve must be demonstrated by a military force ready to respond to threats to our domestic peace and tranquility from any place, and of any kind. Our military must have the personnel and materials required for any contingency and our people must prize both freedom and the responsibility for insuring it.
• Pursue a Moral Foreign Policy – The pursuit of a higher good has always been a part of the American ideal. We are a nation of immigrants, seekers of freedom who have made it our business to welcome the newcomer. We are a nation of idealists, who believe that every human hungers for the freedom we take as our American birthright. We are a nation of brave men and women who know that words of comfort without action are hollow and useless. We are people who cannot ignore the plight of the abused or the threats of tyrants. The United States of America must always measure its foreign policy against the faith- guided tenets of our heritage, not against the vagaries of current opinion or selfish self-interest.

Students at the Foreign Policy School learn how to use the Helms Principles as a guide to making foreign policy decisions and then effectively communicate these foreign policy positions to appropriate audiences.

Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge – The Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge (FELC) is held at Helms Center and other national and international locations. The program was designed for high school seniors and rising juniors to promote the students' understanding of business, personal responsibility, and the opportunities available to them in the free enterprise system. During the week, students interact with prominent community and business leaders who share success stories and answer students' questions about their careers.

Participants in the program form companies to manufacture and market a product or provide a service. Company activities include lessons about marketing, production, the cost of doing business, profits, and taxes. This conference will allow students the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Trade Mission (an Internet based market research project to promote a better understanding of the global economy), free enterprise strategies, and the Free Enterprise Challenge Game, and learn from prominent leaders in business, government, and the community.

Helms Forum – The Helms Forum provides the Helms Center an opportunity to promote the values of the Helms Center in various formats. Throughout the year the Center offer speakers, films (such as the highly acclaimed “The Call of the Entrepreneur) and other types of presentations on critical public policy issues that are in line with the mission of the Center.

Laws of Life – The Laws of Life is an essay contest that invites young people (in middle and high school) to express in writing their personal ideals and the laws of life they value most. A secondary goal of the contest is to help teachers and principals improve the "moral ethos" of their classrooms and schools. The Laws of Life Contest was created by philanthropist Sir John Marks Templeton more than a decade ago.

The "laws of life" are the rules, ideals, and moral principles a moral person strives to uphold and guide his life. Literally hundreds of such laws exist - some are so clear that almost all people can agree that these laws are true. For instance, honesty and compassion rank as universal values in all cultures and societies, regardless of religious beliefs.

The Laws of Life Essay Contest offers young people the chance to think about what principles they support and then commit to paper these thoughts. As participants write their essays, they must identify the laws of life that mean the most to them, and explain their choices through the experiences they have had, the lessons they have learned, and the people who have served as living examples. The topic of the essays is the students' choice, but they are given some examples they might consider, including such concepts as courage, kindness, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline.

Lecture Series – The Jesse Helms Center Lecture Series provides an opportunity for students and citizens to enrich their understanding and appreciation of world affairs. International leaders in areas of business, human rights, religion and government provide commentary on world events and the challenges of today’s global society.

Speakers have included Lady Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Reverend Franklin Graham, the Dalai Lama, Congressman J.C. Watts, Justice Clarence Thomas, Steve Forbes, and Harry Wu.

Make a Difference – Before his retirement from the Senate, Senator Helms announced that discussions with Rev. Franklin Graham and the musician Bono had convinced him that he had been wrong in opposing government aid to fight the spread of the AIDS.

The Senator also pledged that he would join the fight and do all he could to help. He joined Senator Bill Frist in introducing the first major legislation to provide funding to alleviate the AIDS problem. The legislation provided more than $500 million in aid and encouraged US pharmaceutical companies to make their medicines available to health care workers in Africa who had no means to secure these resources for their patients.

After his retirement, Helms recorded a personal video entitled "Make a Difference" to put forth his message on the scope of the AIDS crisis in Africa. His plea in the video is that those who might be tempted to turn away from such a large challenge should reflect on how they would respond if such devastation were to visit their own community or family.

Teacher Workshops – The Helms Center conducts workshops on current and historical issues for social studies teachers (public school teachers, private school teachers, and home school teachers). Some of the issues covered in past workshops include, George Washington and the American Founding; Being An American: Exploring the Ideals That Unite Us; The Bill of Rights, Citizenship and Character: Lessons from American History; The Civil War; Landmark Supreme Court Cases and the Constitution; Religion in the Classroom; The Cold War: Understanding the Clash with Communism; The Constitution; and U.S. Presidents.

Staff & Governance
John Dodd has been President of The Jesse Helms Center since April of 1994. He oversees a staff of eight. The Center is governed by a twenty-five member Board of Directors and is chaired by William “Bill” Cobey, Jr. of Durham. North Carolina.

Financial Profile
The Jesse Helms Center is designated as a 501 (c)(3) foundation. According to the IRS 990 filing of the Center for the calendar year 2007, net assets or fund balances at the end of 2007 were $11,267,537. Total revenues were $1,642,638 and consisted of direct public support ($909,014), dividends and interest ($242,290), net rental income ($12,529), net gain from sales of assets ($468,944) and other revenue ($9,861).

Total expenses paid were $1,316,553, including program services ($970,227), management and general expenses ($105,868), and fund raising ($240,458).

Summary
Helms was a unique and principled politician who maintained most of his principles throughout his career. While he was capable of changing his mind on some issues (witness his change of policy on the AIDS question), he did not change his positions easily. A controversial figure, he is loved by some and hated by others. In the five times he ran for the US Senate, the North Carolina electorate was sharply divided, but Helms garnered a majority all five times. He was never defeated.

His supporters called him “old school” and his opponents thought he is a man time had passed by. But his supporters preferred the old school to the changes in society and politics they saw evolving in the 1960s and 1970s. Those two decades made Jesse Helms, just as they made Ronald Reagan.

The conservative icon, William F. Buckley, Jr., launched National Review with one word: “Stop.” Jesse Helms’ word was “No.” He was labeled “Senator No” by the Raleigh News & Observer and he wore that label with pride.

Richard Nixon and his friend, John Mitchell (who would become Attorney General in the Nixon administration), once had a meeting with Bill Buckley. Nixon asked Buckley why conservatives were so enthusiastic about the emergence of this movie guy out in California, Ronald Reagan. Buckley’s response: “They like Reagan because he doesn’t give a damn what the editorial writers at the New York Times think about him or his ideas.” Nixon turned to Mitchell and said, “Well, I don’t care what they say about me either, do I, John?” That Nixon had to get Mitchell’s confirmation on this point says it all. He really did care. He could not say he didn’t without some backup. The point was not lost on Buckley. Jesse Helms didn’t give a **** about what the editorial writers at the News & Observer thought about him or his ideas. The focus and activities of the Jesse Helms Center reflect the uniqueness of Senator No.

Helms would be proud.