Jesse Helms Dies at 86

Former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), a champion of conservative causes, died early Friday at the age of 86, according to the Jesse Helms Center.

He was an advocate of hard-line stances toward communist countries and a staunch opponent of U.S. funding for the United Nations. He served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, praised Helms’s role in furthering the conservative movement.

“Jesse Helms was one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century,” Feulner said in post on the foundation’s blog. “Along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, he helped establish the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people. The defeat of Soviet communism and the rise of Ronald Reagan would not have happened without his intrepid leadership at decisive times.”