Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir

by Jesse Helms

Book Overview

The highly-anticipated memoir by one of the giants of the U.S. Senatea book as fascinating, frank, and full of fervor as the man himself. The first Republican elected to the Senate from North Carolina... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375508848
• ISBN13: 9780375508844
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

An Interesting Read About a Polarizing Figure

Regardless of what you think about Senator Helms, he tells it like it is in "Here's Where I Stand". Personally, I like the senator and voted for him at least twice because he does indeed represent true North Carolina values. As earlier reviewers have mentioned the liberal media have so vehemently attacked the senator on being a conservative, that many Americans view him as being vicious and intolerant. Quite the contrary! Senator Helms (unlike many politicians) is a principled man who knows where he stands and has been able to work with people of different political persuasions without compromising his basic core principles. The book is a series of stories from the senator himself concerning: 1. His early childhood and career that eventually led him into politics. 2. His mainly positive relationships with minorities and people of other political and cultural backgrounds. 3. Where he stands on particular issues and what actions he took on them. 4. Relationships with presidents and other senators and what he thought of them. 5. Experiences on the various committees he served on while a senator. 6. His retirement years. 7. His close family relationships and friendships. 8. His election campaigns. I heartily recommend the book to anyone who would like to know more about the person known as "Senator No" during his terms in Washington D.C. Whether or not like you like Senator Helms, you will have to admit that you will respect his candor and clarity on political stances. He clearly states what his stances are on issues and also why he believes as he does. Read and enjoy! Recommended.

Future Historians order today!

It is an abysmal shame that so many people will never read this book because of the misconceptions they have been fed about Senator Jesse Helms. The bogeyman hiding under the liberal bed wears Senator Helms' distinctive owlish glasses and speaks with a soothing drawl. That image was created by liberals as they struggled desperately and in vain to smear a thoroughly honest and decent man through five (count `em) election campaigns. Here's Where I Stand is Senator Helms chance to set the record straight and he succeeds admirably. He gives a detailed accounting of his values and positions. Perhaps more importantly, he addresses the villainous lies that have been spread against him over the years by the liberal media. Senator Helms was 51 years old when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. He had already been a successful businessman and journalist; had served his country in uniform and on the staff of Senator Willis Smith. In 2001, at 80, Senator Helms considered running for a sixth term but was gently encouraged to retire by his family and close friends. The left will howl with vicious glee when Senator Helms succumbs to age as they did when Ronald Reagan passed from this life. It is to his great credit that he was able to complete his memoirs before age robbed him of his sharp intellect and lifetime of honorable memories. Students writing biographies of political figures in today's climate will know intuitively that the easy "A" will come from a study of Hubert Humphrey or Paul Wellstone. A biography of Senator Helms, flawlessly written will earn them a lower grade and a semester of scorn and derision. But their careful research of the most liberal political figures will keep leading them back to references to Senator Helms who sought always to build productive working relationships with his ideological opposites. They will benefit from his wisdom and hopefully begin to doubt the tie-dyed dogmas of the apparatchiki. As years roll by and fashions change, scholars will dust off Here's Where I Stand and see a portrait of one of the last great Citizen Senators. We'll not see his like again and it is our great loss.

Jesse Helms explains himself

The only other political figure as divisive as former Senator Jesse Helms is former President Bill Clinton. That's saying something considering the endless number of scandals both big and small that plagued Clinton's presidency. Jesse Helms had no comparable problems during his thirty years in office, but derision and controversy followed him nonetheless. Why? Because the very presence of Helms, an archconservative of the first order, vexed to no end the hopeless liberals in the mainstream media. The primary way journalism hacks dealt with Helms was to not deal with him, i.e. try to ignore his presence in the Senate. When it became absolutely necessary to mention his name, like during the failed William Weld nomination as ambassador to Mexico in which Helms played a major role, the tactic switched to good old-fashioned tar and feathering. The media mavens, barely containing their scornful smirks, heaped derision on the venerable senator from North Carolina. "Obstructionist" and "extremist" were the least harmful labels applied to Helms. We were much more likely to hear insinuations about racism (a favorite smear employed by the left to reframe debates near and dear to their hearts) and hardheaded cold heartedness. The Democrats breathed a collective sigh of relief when Helms retired a few years ago. Now Jesse Helms has reemerged, albeit briefly, with a single volume memoir entitled, "Here's Where I Stand." The book serves as his opportunity to clear the air, so to speak, by providing interested readers with information on his upbringing and how his life informed the decisions he made as a senator. I knew that Helms was born and raised in North Carolina, but I didn't know the particulars until I read this engaging book. He grew up poor in a small town called Monroe, the son of man who served the village as head of both the police and fire departments. Helms recalls his childhood as a golden time in his life despite the fact that the country was wading through the worst of the Great Depression. Through tenacity and a willingness to take a number of different jobs, Helms managed to impress the sort of people who could help a serious young man secure a slot in college. The future senator worked hard at his studies, joined the Navy when World War II broke out, married his wife at roughly the same time, and began a career in journalism all within the space of a few years. What comes across in these sections most strongly is the fact that Jesse Helms knew how to create opportunities and then take advantage of them, a trait largely lost to most of the populace today. I had no idea about Helms's journalistic background, let alone the fact that he came to statewide prominence thanks to his daily editorials on WRAL during the early days of television. His experience as a media personality likely prepared him for the derision he faced when he ran for his first term as senator in the early 1970s. Largely written off by the national journalism outlets when

STANDING TALL IN PASSION AND PRINCIPLE

JESSIE HELMS NEW BESTSELLING MEMOIR "HERES WHERE I STAND" IS A BOOK LIKE NO OTHER. IT IS BOTH WELL WRITTION AND RICH IN POLITICAL HISTORY. THIS FINE STATESMEN HAS SERVED MANY PRESIDENTS AND THROUGH THESE MANY FAST READING PAGES TAKES THE READER THROUGH ALL THE HISTORICAL EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS THAT HE HAD THE HONOR TO HAVE SHAPPED, PLAYED A PART IN OR TAKEN A STAND FOR. THIS FINE PUBLICATION IS MORE THEAN A MEMOIR IT IS A REAL INSIDERS ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE GREATEST EVENTS AND WORLD LEADERS WHO ARE TAKING A STAND FOR THINGS THAT MATTER THE MOST. I LIKED THIS BOOK BECAUSE I GOT TO KNOW THE REAL JESSE HELMS AND NOT FROM WHAT I LEARNED I GOT A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW OUR GOVERMENT WORKS. THIS BOOK WOULD MAKE AN AWSOME GIFT FOR A FRIEND, FAMILY MEMBER, CHURCH FRIEND, SPECIAL PASTOR, OR PERHAPS A SOLDIER SERVING OVER SEAS. LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS FINE STATESMAN READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!