JESSE HELMS: Scourge of the Senate

That's how some of his colleagues see JESSE HELMS, a wily parliamentary terrorist who routinely blocks civil rights bills, holds ambassadorships hostage and undermines treaties

An entire wall of Jesse Helms' Capitol Hill office is covered with political cartoons, most of them lampooning him as a rogue and obstructionist. The senior Senator from North Carolina takes impish delight in each and every one of them. "The uglier they are the quicker he puts them up," says an aide. Among Helms' favorites is one depicting a fellow Senator praying, "And would you kindly ask Jesse Helms to please shut up?"

Can the Jesse Helms who rises to greet a visitor, full of cracker-barrel charm and as well mannered as an overly polite schoolboy, really be the notorious...

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