Former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms once said that he "did not come to Washington to win a popularity contest." That's a good thing, because Helms, who died Friday at the age of 86, was never in the running for Most Popular Senator. Even in his obituaries, reporters are having a hard time finding nice things to say about a guy who was an unabashed bigot and a symbol of the sort of southern racism that has been a major pock on the history of the United States. Frequently when someone of Helms' renown dies, we say, "it's the end of an era." We're talking about a man who once said that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress." If his death really does mark the end of an era, then we should all thank our lucky stars.

The Helms "Era"

1972: Helms ran for Senate in North Carolina against Greek-American Congressman Nick Galifianakis. His slogan? "Vote For Helms — He's One of Us."

1983: Led a 16-day filibuster of a bill making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday a national holiday.

1990: Ran against former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt and used the infamous, race-baiting "Hands" ad.

1990: Refused to attend a speech given by Nelson Mandela during a joint session of Congress. He supported the other side.

1993: Sang "Dixie" to Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate, in an elevator. He preceded the serenade by saying, "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries."

1995: Blocked the refunding of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) Act, saying that people with AIDS were responsible for the disease because of gays' ""deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."

1996: Was "admonished" by the Justice Department for sending mailers to black neighborhoods telling residents they risked being sent to jail if they voted.

2003: When Helms retired from the Senate in 2003, columnist David S. Broder wrote that he was "the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country."

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