Jesse Helms and the Roots of the MAGA Revolution

Revolution Cornerstones Visiting Chair Lecture

Join the Department of History for a lecture by William A. Link, Cornerstones Visiting Chair in History, titled, "Jesse Helms and the Roots of the MAGA Revolution."

Jesse Helms (1921–2008) dominated the political landscape of North Carolina during the last half of the twentieth century. Though Helms's more than thirty years in the U.S. Senate are most remembered for what he opposed rather than what he achieved, he was a central figure in modern conservativism. Helms innovated strategies for consolidating political power by using broadcast media to generate grassroots outrage. In addition, Helms’ National Congressional Club successfully raised a powerful warchest that could be used in television attack ads. Anticipating the rise of MAGA, Helms's career-long penchant for race-baiting and homophobic rhetoric created many opponents, but even they acknowledged his uncanny ability to piece together slender electoral majorities in a rapidly changing nation.