Gov. Mike Easley said that Jesse Helms was always a gentleman to him.
"Whether you liked his politics or not, he was a national force able to deliver for his constituents," Easley said in a statement. "We last appeared together when the Navy named a submarine after North Carolina at his request. He certainly didn’t shy from controversy and you always knew what his positions were. Whether we were working together to stop international drug trafficking or opposing each other on the campaign trail, he was always a gentleman to me."
Linda Daves, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, said it was fitting that Helms, who she described as a "great patriot" died on Independence Day.
"Jesse Helms was larger than life and it is entirely fitting that he would join Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as making his last day the Fourth of July," Daves said in a statement. "Senator Helms will be a man who is remembered for loving his country, the state of North Carolina and for doing whatever was in his power to work for the people with their best interests in his heart....No great man, no matter his era, is short of controversy. I know Jesse would have expected as much. Those who knew him personally knew him to be a man with a kind, gentle soul who exuded warmth and lifted up those around him."
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Re: Easley, Daves react to Helms' death
You know, I have lived here in this state all my life, and all my adult life was represented by this deplorable human being. All the politicians have to salute him, I realize this. When Strom Thurmond died, I was saddened because for all the things he did 60 years ago, he tried to repent. He was a nice old man.
Jesse Helms death does not sadden me whatsoever, in fact he lived too long. His dynamic hatred of anything he didn't believe in or understand(the latter is more appropriate because of his inability to learn) was just sickening. He made our state look like a rotten tooted snuff spitting place to live.
Goodbye and Good Riddance.
Richard Perkins
Asheville