Helms, unlike Southern peers, never saw much need to change

Jesse Helms, shown with President Reagan in 1983, gave Reagan a critical boost in North Carolina’s Republican primary in 1976.

GOP and 'Jessecrats' gave votes he needed

RALEIGH (Winston-Salem Journal) - Jesse Helms forever changed North Carolina politics and the conservative movement. The former senator did it without ever changing much about himself.

There is perhaps no better example of Helms' unwavering commitment to his beliefs than on the issue of race. Helms was a staunch opponent of the nation's civil-rights movement, where he joined the likes of Alabama Gov. George Wallace and South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond in a fight to keep outsiders from meddling in what he called "the Southern way of life."

But those giants of Southern politics would come to temper their views on civil rights, while Helms never did. He died Friday at age 86, having never seen any need to apologize or deviate from his views.