1 - 2 - 3 - 4   Harvey Gantt Helms’s Democratic Challenger in 1990 & 1996 In 1963, Harvey B. Gantt was the first African-American to be admitted to Clemson University in South Carolina. He received a degree in architecture with honors from Clemson and a master's degree in city planning from MIT. From 1974 until 1983, Gantt served on the Charlotte, N.C. city council. He was then elected and reelected as the first black mayor of Charlotte, serving in that position from 1983-1987. In 1990, he staged the first of two heated, yet unsuccessful, senatorial campaigns against Jesse Helms.     Dorothy Helms Jesse Helms's Wife Jesse Helms is married to Dorothy Jane Coble Helms of Raleigh, N.C. The two met during Helms's first, full-time job as a sports reporter with the Raleigh News & Observer, where Dorothy worked as society page editor. They were married in October of 1942, when Helms returned from Naval training in San Diego. Together the couple have three children: Jane (Mrs. Charles R. Knox) of Raleigh, N.C., Nancy (Mrs. Randy Grigg) of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Charles of Winston-Salem, N.C.     Ray House (1906-1997) Former Principal, Monroe High School Ray House was principal of Monroe High School from 1932 to 1944, which included the years Jesse Helms was a student there. "Next to my own father, he made a greater impression on me than anybody else," Helms said. "I had a stock sermon that I always preached to them," House said of his former students. "Hard work, honesty, caring for others, being the first one on the job and the last one to leave, and you'd have two cars in you garage. Of course, none of them believed that because no one had a car period."     Walter Love Jesse Helms's Childhood Classmate Walter Love recalled of his Monroe classmate Jesse Helms, "He took with him a desire to achieve, to be good, to do what you can, the best you can, from Mr. House…who was his mentor until he died."     Larry Sabato Political Scientist and Director University of Virginia's Center for Politics Larry J. Sabato is Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and founder and director of the University’s Center for Politics.  He has written over twenty books and countless essays on the American political process, including Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election, Feeding Frenzy: Attack Journalism & American Politics, and PAC Power: Inside the World of Political Action Committees. Dr. Sabato has been making national media appearances since the 1970s. Both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post have noted that Dr. Sabato is the most cited college professor in any field in the United States by national and regional news organizations, electronic and print.     Vann Secrest   Jesse Helms's Childhood Classmate "He was quite tall then for his age," Vann Secrest remembered of his Monroe classmate Jesse Helms, "and he lifted his leg very high when he strutted as drum major. I think he relished being in control, and that’s not a bad thing. Somebody’s got to take the responsibility and he was willing to do it."       1 - 2 - 3 - 4   TOP