Former Senator Jesse Helms passes away at age 86

Former Sen. Jesse Helms (photo) dies at 86
Republican known as 'Senator No' served 30 years before retiring in 2003

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Raleigh, North Carolina - Former Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, a leading conservative from North Carolina who served 30 years in the Senate before retiring in 2003, has died, the Jesse Helms Center said Friday. He was 86.

"Former United States Senator Jesse Helms died at 1:15 a.m. this morning in Raleigh. Helms, a blunt-talking product of the Old South, was known as "Senator No" for opposing just about anything that obstructed his conservative view of the world.