clipped from: en.wikinews.org   
Former United States senator from North Carolina Jesse Helms has died today at the age of 86 after a long batter with vascular dementia.

Helms was born Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. on October 18, 1921 in Monroe, North Carolina. He was a five term senator for N.C. and was also a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman. He also became the first U.S. lawmaker to speak in front of the United Nations Security Council.

Jesse Helms.

"Jesse Helms was one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century. Along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, he helped establish the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people," said Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation.