Editing Jesse Helms (section)

==First Senate term (1973–1979)==
===Entering the Senate===
{{quote|In a world where give-and-take is the key to success, Helms refused to play the game of compromise. Rather than get together with opponents to work out their differences, Helms preferred to stand his ground in defeat.|Journalist Rob Christensen|''The News & Observer'' (2008)<ref name="Christensen TNO 4 Jy"/>}}

[[File:Jesse Helms.jpg|thumb|Helms c. 1973]]
Helms quickly became a "star" of the conservative movement,<ref>{{cite news |title=Conservatives; Third Men |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=58 |date=February 22, 1975 }}</ref> and was particularly vociferous on the issue of [[abortion]]. In 1974, in the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', Helms introduced a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited abortion in all circumstances,<ref>{{cite news |first=Linda |last=Charlton |title=Forces Against Abortion Assemble, With Optimism |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 2, 1974 |page=C13 }}</ref> by conferring [[due process]] rights upon every [[fetus]].<ref name="Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers">{{cite news |title=Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers a Setback |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 9, 1974 |page=22 }}</ref> However, the Senate hearing into the proposed amendments heard that neither Helms', nor [[James L. Buckley]]'s similar amendment, would achieve their stated goal, and shelved them for the session.<ref name="Anti-Abortion Drive Suffers" /> Both Helms and Buckley proposed amendments again in 1975, with Helms's amendment allowing states leeway in their implementation of an enshrined constitutional "right to life" from the "moment of fertilization".<ref>{{cite news |title=Constitutional Ban on Abortion Urged |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 11, 1975 |page=10 }}</ref>

Helms was also a prominent advocate of [[free enterprise]] and favored cutting the budget.<ref>{{cite news |title=The big black book of David Stockman |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=19 |date=February 14, 1981 }}</ref> He was a strong advocate of a global return to the [[gold standard]],<ref name="Republican support for a new gold standard">{{cite news |first=Frank |last=Vogl |title=Republican support for a new gold standard |work=[[The Times]] |page=15 |date=January 5, 1981 }}</ref> which he would push at numerous points throughout his Senate career; in October 1977, Helms proposed a successful amendment that allowed United States citizens to sign contracts linked to gold, overturning a 44-year ban on gold-indexed contracts,<ref>{{cite news |title=Gold (2); America gets the bug |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=October 22, 1977 |page=116 }}</ref> reflecting fears of inflation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Frank |last=Vogl |title=US permits contracts denominated in gold |work=[[The Times]] |page=20 |date=October 19, 1977 }}</ref> Helms supported the tobacco industry,<ref name="Helms Exhorts Tobacco">{{cite news |first=Mark I. |last=Pinsky |title=Helms Exhorts Tobacco Bloc to Fight Budget Cuts |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 21, 1981 |page=1 }}</ref> which contributed more than 6% of the state's [[Gross State Product|GSP]] until the 1990s (the highest in the country);<ref>{{cite book |title=Measuring the Impact of Tobacco on State Economies |last=Liang |first=Lan |author2=Chaloupka, Frank J. |author3=Ierulli, Kathryn  |year=2004 |publisher=National Cancer Institute |page=178 |chapter=Evaluating ASSIST }}</ref> he argued that federal price support programs should be maintained, as they did not constitute a [[subsidy]] but insurance.<ref name="Helms Exhorts Tobacco" /> Helms offered an amendment that would have denied food stamps to strikers when the Senate approved increasing federal contributions to food stamp and school lunch programs in May 1974.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/22/archives/senate-votes-rises-in-school-lunch-aid.html|title=Senate Votes Rises in School Lunch Aid |date=May 22, 1974|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In 1973, the [[United States Congress]] passed the [[Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act|Helms Amendment]] to the [[Foreign Assistance Act]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-international-family-planning-reproductive-health-statutory-requirements-and-policies/|title=The U.S. Government and International Family Planning & Reproductive Health: Statutory Requirements and Policies|language=en-US|access-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> It states that, "no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/family-planning/usaids-family-planning-guiding-principles-and-us|title=USAID's Family Planning Guiding Principles and U.S. Legislative and Policy Requirements|website=[[USAID]]|access-date=August 8, 2016|archive-date=August 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812191547/https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/family-planning/usaids-family-planning-guiding-principles-and-us|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 1973, along with Democrats [[James Abourezk]] and [[Floyd Haskell]], Helms was one of three senators to vote against the confirmation of [[Peter J. Brennan]] as [[United States Secretary of Labor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/01/archives/senate-confirms-brennan-and-lynn-for-cabinet-posts.html|title=Senate Confirms Brennan and Lynn For Cabinet Posts|date=February 1, 1973|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In May 1974, when the Senate approved the establishment of no‐fault automobile insurance plans in every state, it rejected an amendment by Helms exempting states that were opposed to no‐fault insurance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/02/archives/senate-53-to-42-supports-nofault-auto-insurance-advantages-cited.html|title=Senate, 53 to 42, Supports No-Fault Auto Insurance|date=May 2, 1974|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
From the start, Helms identified as a prominent anti-communist. He proposed an act in 1974 that authorized the President to grant [[Honorary Citizen of the United States|honorary citizenship]] to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] dissident [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Honorary Citizenship Voted for Solzhenitsyn |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 5, 1974 |page=19 }}</ref> He remained close to Solzhenitsyn's cause, and linked his fight to that of freedom throughout the world.<ref>{{cite news |first=Fred M. |last=Hechinger |title=Suspension of Reality |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 24, 1976 |page=29 }}</ref> In 1975, as [[North Vietnam]]ese forces [[Fall of Saigon|approached Saigon]], Helms was foremost among those urging the US to evacuate all Vietnamese demanding this, which he believed could be "two million or more within seven days".<ref>{{cite news |title=Seventh Fleet should rescue all who wish to leave, senator says |work=[[The Times]] |page=1 |date=April 4, 1975 }}</ref> When the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services Committee]] voted to suppress a report critical of the US's strategic position in the [[arms race]], Helms read the entire report out, requiring it to be published in full in the ''[[Congressional Record]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Cosgrave |title=The arms report Congress tried to suppress |work=[[The Times]] |page=16 |date=June 21, 1978 }}</ref>

Helms was not at first a strong supporter of Israel; for instance, in 1973 he proposed a resolution demanding Israel return the [[West Bank]] to [[Jordan]], and, in 1975, demanding that the Palestinian Arabs receive a "just settlement of their grievances".<ref name="Link 318">Link (2007), p. 318</ref> In 1977, Helms was the sole senator to vote against prohibiting American companies from joining the [[Arab League boycott of Israel]],<ref>{{cite news |title=US Senate votes for anti-boycott Bill |work=[[The Times]] |page=4 |date=May 7, 1977 }}</ref> but that was primarily because the bill also relaxed discrimination against Communist countries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arab boycott; Morality with a loophole |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=47 |date=May 14, 1977 }}</ref> In 1982, Helms called for the US to break diplomatic relations with Israel during the [[1982 Lebanon War]].<ref>{{cite news |title=It gets less easy to support Israel |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=35 |date=August 14, 1982 }}</ref> He favored prohibiting foreign aid to countries that had recently detonated nuclear weapons: this was aimed squarely at India, but it also affected Israel should it conduct a [[Nuclear weapons testing|nuclear test]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Foreign aid; little largess |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=70 |date=November 15, 1975 }}</ref> He worked to support the supply of arms to the United States' Arab allies under presidents Carter and Reagan, until his views on Israel shifted significantly in 1984.<ref name="Link 318" />

Helms and [[Bob Dole]] offered an amendment in 1973 that would have delayed cutting off funding for bombing in [[Cambodia]] if the President informed Congress that North Vietnam was not making an accounting "to the best of its ability" of US servicemen missing in [[Southeast Asia]]. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 56 to 25.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/01/archives/house-must-act-its-version-is-milderdelay-in-sending-bill-to-nixon.html|title=House Must Act |first=Richard L.|last=Madden|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 1973 }}</ref>

=== Nixon resignation ===
Helms delivered a Senate speech blaming liberal media for distorting Watergate and questioned if President Nixon had a constitutional right to be considered innocent until proven guilty following the April 1973 revelation of details relating to the scandal and Nixon administration aides resigning. He advocated against illegal activities being condoned with concurrent "half-truth and allegations" being reported by the media. Helms had four separate meetings with President Nixon in April and May 1973 where he attempted to cheer up the president and called for the White House to challenge its critics even as fellow Republicans from North Carolina criticized Nixon. Helms opposed the creation of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices in the summer of 1973, even as it was chaired by fellow North Carolina Senator [[Sam Ervin]], arguing that it was a ploy by Democrats to discredit and oust Nixon.<ref name=Link137>Link (2008), pp. 137–138</ref>

In August 1974, ''[[Newsweek]]'' published a list by the White House including Helms as one of 36 senators that the administration believed would support President Nixon in the event of his impeachment and being brought to trial by the Senate. The article stated that some supporters were not fully convinced and this would further peril the administration as 34 were needed to prevent conviction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/05/archives/36-senators-seen-as-nixon-backers-magazine-says-7-democrats-may.html|title=36 SENATORS SEEN AS NIXON BACKERS|date=August 5, 1974|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Nixon resigned days later and kept contact with Helms during his post-presidency,  calling Helms to either chat or offer advice.<ref name=Link137/>

===1976 presidential election===
{{Main|1976 United States presidential election}}

Helms supported [[Ronald Reagan]] for the [[Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976|presidential nomination in 1976]], even before Reagan had announced his candidacy.<ref>Shirley (2005), p. 23</ref> His contribution was crucial in the North Carolina primary victory that paved the way for Reagan's presidential election in 1980. The support of Helms, alongside Raleigh-based campaign operative [[Thomas F. Ellis]], was instrumental in Reagan's winning the North Carolina primary and later presenting a major challenge to incumbent President [[Gerald Ford]] at the [[1976 Republican National Convention]]. According to author [[Craig Shirley]], the two men deserve credit "for breathing life into the dying Reagan campaign".<ref>Shirley (2005), p. 160</ref> Going into the primary, Reagan had lost all the primaries, including in New Hampshire, where he had been favored, and was two million dollars in debt, with a growing number of Republican leaders calling for his exit.<ref name="Craig Shirley 176">Shirley (2005), p. 176</ref> The Ford campaign was predicting a victory in North Carolina, but assessed Reagan's strength in the state simply: Helms's support.<ref>Shirley (2005), p. 61</ref> While Ford had the backing of Governor [[James Holshouser]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Fred |last=Emery |title=Do-or-die for the two main challengers in fickle North Carolina |work=[[The Times]] |page=8 |date=March 14, 1976 }}</ref> the grassroots movement formed in North Carolina by Ellis and backed by Helms delivered an upset victory by 53% to 47%.<ref>Shirley (2005), p. 175</ref> The momentum generated in North Carolina carried Ronald Reagan to landslide primary wins in Texas, California, and other critical states, evening the contest between Reagan and Ford, and forcing undeclared delegates to choose at the 1976 convention.

Later, Helms was not pleased by the announcement that Reagan, if nominated, would ask the 1976 Republican National Convention to make moderate [[Pennsylvania]] Senator [[Richard Schweiker]] his running mate for the general election,<ref>{{cite news |first=Fred |last=Emery |title=Choice of liberal outrages some of Mr Reagan's supporters |work=[[The Times]] |page=6 |date=July 28, 1976 }}</ref> but kept his objections to himself at the time.<ref name="Craig Shirley 275">Shirley (2005), p. 275</ref> According to Helms, after Reagan told him of the decision, Helms noted the hour because, "I wanted to record for posterity the exact time I received the shock of my life."<ref name="Craig Shirley 275"/> Helms and [[Strom Thurmond]] tried to make Reagan drop Schweiker for a conservative, perhaps either James Buckley<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Wicker |author-link=Tom Wicker |title=The Paradox in Kansas City |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 13, 1976 |page=18 }}</ref> or his brother [[William F. Buckley Jr.]], and rumors surfaced that Helms might run for vice president himself,<ref name="Craig Shirley 311">Shirley (2005), p. 311</ref> but Schweiker was kept. In the end, Reagan lost narrowly to Ford at the convention, while Helms received only token support for the vice presidential nomination, albeit enough to place him second, far behind Ford's choice of [[Bob Dole]]. The Convention adopted a broadly conservative platform, and the conservative faction came out acting like the winners, except Jesse Helms.<ref>{{cite news |first=Anthony |last=Lewis |author-link=Anthony Lewis |title=Aground on a Rock |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 19, 1976 |page=35 }}</ref>

Helms vowed to campaign actively for Ford across the South, regarding the conservative platform adopted at the convention to be a "mandate" on which Ford was pledging to run. However, he targeted [[Henry Kissinger]] after the latter issued a statement calling Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn a "threat to world peace", and Helms demanded that Kissinger embrace the platform or resign immediately.<ref>{{cite news |title=Helms Calls for Kissinger to Back Platform or Quit |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/09/09/118457728.pdf |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 9, 1976 |page=32 |access-date=July 9, 2009}}</ref> Helms continued to back Reagan, and the two remained close friends and political allies throughout Reagan's political career, although sometimes critical of each other.<ref name="Holmes, NYT 5 Jy">{{cite news | last = Holmes | first =Steven A. | title=Jesse Helms Dies at 86; Conservative Force in the Senate | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 5, 2008 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/us/politics/00helms.html | access-date=July 12, 2008}}</ref> Despite Reagan's defeat at the convention, the intervention of Helms and Ellis arguably led to the most important conservative primary victory in the history of the Republican Party. This victory enabled Reagan to contest the 1976 Republican presidential nomination, and to win the next nomination at the [[1980 Republican National Convention]] and ultimately the [[presidency of the United States]].

According to Craig Shirley,
<blockquote>Had Reagan lost North Carolina, despite his public pronouncements, his revolutionary challenge to Ford, along with his political career, would have ended unceremoniously. He would have made a gracious exit speech, cut a deal with the Ford forces to eliminate his campaign debt, made a minor speech at the Kansas City Convention later that year, and returned to his ranch in Santa Barbara. He would probably have only reemerged to make speeches and cut radio commercials to supplement his income. And Reagan would have faded into political oblivion.<ref name="Craig Shirley 176"/></blockquote>

===Torrijos–Carter treaties===
{{Main|Torrijos–Carter Treaties}}

Helms was a long-time opponent of transferring possession of the [[Panama Canal]] to [[Panama]], calling its construction an "historic American achievement".<ref name="Link 188">Link (2008), p. 188</ref> He warned that it would fall into the hands of [[Omar Torrijos]]'s "communist friends". The issue of transfer of the canal was debated in the 1976 presidential race, wherein then-President Ford suspended negotiations over the transfer of sovereignty to assuage conservative opposition. In 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] reopened negotiations, appointing [[Sol Linowitz]] as co-negotiator without Senate confirmation, and Helms and Strom Thurmond led the opposition to the transfer.<ref name="Carter, Panama, and China">{{cite news |first=James |last=Reston |author-link=James Reston |title=Carter, Panama, and China |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 24, 1977 |page=19 }}</ref> Helms claimed that Linowitz's involvement with [[Marine Midland]] constituted a conflict of interests, arguing that it constituted a [[bailout]] of American banking interests.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hastedt |first=Glenn P. |author2=Eksterowicz, Anthony J. |year=2001 |title=Perils of Presidential Transition |journal=Seton Hall Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations |volume=II |issue=1 |pages=67–85 |url=http://diplomacy.shu.edu/academics/journal/resources/journal_dip_pdfs/journal_of_diplomacy_vol2_no1/eksterowick.pdf |access-date=July 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908070635/http://diplomacy.shu.edu/academics/journal/resources/journal_dip_pdfs/journal_of_diplomacy_vol2_no1/eksterowick.pdf |archive-date=September 8, 2008 }}</ref> He filed two federal suits, demanding prior congressional approval of any treaty and then consent by both houses of Congress. Helms also rallied Reagan, telling him that negotiation over Panama would be a "second Schweiker" as far as his conservative base was concerned.<ref name="Link 188" />

When Carter announced, on August 10, 1977, the conclusion of [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties|the treaties]], Helms declared it a [[constitutional crisis]], cited the need for the support of United States' allies in Latin America, accused the U.S. of submitting to Panamanian blackmail, and complained that the decision threatened national security in the event of war in Europe. Helms threatened to obstruct Senate business, proposing 200 amendments to the revision of the United States criminal code, knowing that most Americans opposed the treaties and would punish congressmen who voted for them if the ratification vote came in the run-up to the election. Helms announced the results of an opinion poll showing 78% public opposition.<ref>{{cite news |first=Hedrick |last=Smith |author-link=Hedrick Smith |title=White House Opens Drive to Win Senate Approval of Canal Accord |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 12, 1977 |page=1 }}</ref> However, Helms's and Thurmond's leadership of the opposition made it politically easier for Carter,<ref name="Carter, Panama, and China" /> causing them to be replaced by the soft-spoken [[Paul Laxalt]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Clymer |title=Moderation is the Message for New Right Campaigners |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 26, 1978 |page=E4 }}</ref>

===1978 re-election campaign===
{{Main|1978 United States Senate election in North Carolina}}

Helms began campaigning for re-election in February 1977, giving himself 15 months by the time of the primaries. While he faced no primary opponent, the Democrats nominated [[North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance|Commissioner of Insurance]] [[John Ingram (politician)|John Ingram]],<ref name="Hodges in Party">{{cite news |first=Wayne |last=King |title=Hodges in Party Runoff to Decide Rival for Helms in North Carolina |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 4, 1978 |page=18 }}</ref> who came from behind in the first round of the primary to win in the run-off. Ingram was known as an eccentric [[populism|populist]] and used low-budget campaigning,<ref>{{cite news |title=Ingram Makes It a Fivesome |author=Maralee Schwartz |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 8, 1990 }}</ref><ref name="Carter's Coattails">{{cite news |first=Howell |last=Raines |author-link=Howell Raines |title=Carter's Coattails Aren't Enough to Uproot Republicans in South |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 9, 1978 |page=24 }}</ref> just as he had in winning the primary.<ref name="Hodges in Party" /><ref name="Close Senate Races">{{cite news |first=Wayne |last=King |title=Close Senate Races Ending in Two States |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 29, 1978 |page=9 }}</ref> He campaigned almost exclusively on the issue of insurance rates and against "fat cats and special interests",<ref name="Close Senate Races" /> in which he included Helms.<ref>{{cite news |first=Wayne |last=King |title=N. Carolina Democrats Seek Rival to Helms Today |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 2, 1978 |page=23 }}</ref> Helms was one of three senators given a 100% rating by the conservative Americans for Constitutional Action for 1977,<ref>{{cite news |title=3 Republican Senators Rated As Perfect by Conservative Unit |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 12, 1978 |page=47 }}</ref> and was ranked fourth-most conservative by others.<ref name="It'll be a yes" /> The [[Democratic National Committee]] targeted Helms, as did President Carter, who visited North Carolina twice on Ingram's behalf.<ref name="Carter's Coattails" />

In June 1978, along with [[Strom Thurmond]], Helms was one of two senators named by an environmental group as part of a congressional "Dirty Dozen" that the group believed should be defeated in their re-election efforts due to their stances on environmental issues; membership on the list was based "primarily on 14 Senate and 19 House votes, including amendments to air and water pollution control laws, strip‐mining controls, auto emissions and water projects".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/05/archives/environmentalists-urge-defeat-of-12-in-congress.html|title=Environmentalists Urge Defeat of 12 in Congress |date=June 5, 1978|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Over the long campaign, Helms raised $7.5 million, more than twice as much as the second most-expensive nationwide ([[John Tower]]'s in Texas),<ref>{{cite news |first=Warren |last=Weaver |title=Special Interests Spend $60m |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 7, 1978 |page=27 }}</ref> thanks to [[Richard Viguerie]]'s and [[Alex Castellanos]]'s pioneering [[direct mail]] strategies.<ref>Link (2007), p. 193–4</ref> It was estimated that at least $3 million of Helms's contributions were spent on fund-raising.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Clymer |author-link=Adam Clymer |title=G.O.P. May Gain Nationally |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 6, 1978 |page=1 }}</ref> Helms easily outspent Ingram several times over, as the latter spent $150,000.<ref>Link (2007), p. 196</ref> Due to a punctured [[lumbar]] [[Intervertebral disc|disc]], Helms was forced to suspend campaigning for six weeks in September and October.<ref name="Link 199">Link (2007), p. 199</ref> In a low-turnout election, Helms received 619,151 votes (54.5 percent) to Ingram's 516,663 (45.5 percent).<ref name="SouthNow 46" /> Celebrating his victory, Helms told his supporters that it was a "victory for the conservative and the free enterprise cause throughout America", adding, "I'm Senator No and I'm glad to be here!"<ref name="Link 199" />