# Ted Cruz's Story About Jesse Helms & John Wayne **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751 "2013-09-13T05:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/1 "2013-09-13T05:46:08Z")
On September 11, 2013 Ted Cruz recounted [a story](http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/12/20455782-we-need-a-hundred-more-like-jesse-helms-in-the-us-senate?lite) about how the unapologetic racist and segregationist Jesse Helms received a campaign donation check from John Wayne. According to Cruz, Helms contacted Wayne to thank him and, as he (Cruz) tells the story, Wayne said to Helms, > [@](#): > > Oh yeah, you’re that guy saying all those crazy things. We need 100 more like you. My question is is there any truth to Cruz’s story about John Wayne and Jesse Helms and, if so, how much? ETA: For the record, to my knowledge Cruz never referred to Helms as an unapologetic racist and a segregationist. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/2 "2013-09-13T15:05:48Z")
President Bush mentioned that John Wayne had said that the Senate needed 100 like Jesse Helms. Bush was speaking at a Helms’ fundraiser during the 1990 campaign. His obituary mentioned that Helms kept a personalized photo from Wayne hanging in his Senate Office. I couldn’t find anything about the circumstances about Wayne saying it to Helms, but Wayne was a very outspoken supporter of Republicans throughout the 1970’s until his death. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/3 "2013-09-13T19:45:37Z")
> [@SeaCanary](#): > > the unapologetic racist and segregationist Jesse Helms Not sure how this relates to your OP, but Jesse Helms was not an unapologetic racist and segregationist, at least at those terms are commonly used and understood. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/4 "2013-09-13T21:21:09Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Not sure how this relates to your OP, but Jesse Helms was not an unapologetic racist and segregationist, at least at those terms are commonly used and understood. So when he called UNC the “University of Negroes and Communists” he meant it as a compliment? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/5 "2013-09-13T21:55:41Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/6 "2013-09-14T02:07:35Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Not sure how this relates to your OP, but… You’re right. It doesn’t relate. It was an easy shot at someone I personally revile. > [@](#): > > Jesse Helms was not an unapologetic racist and segregationist, at least at those terms are commonly used and understood. [ol] [li]Do you mean that he did apologize? Like [George Wallace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace#Change_of_positions)? I don’t think so.[/li][li]How are the terms racist and segregationist commonly used and understood?[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![POLIToVISION](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b3f665/32.png) [@POLIToVISION](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/POLIToVISION)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/7 "2013-09-17T06:31:11Z")
Senator Ted Cruz sings the “Jesse Helms Blues!!!” [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v_ZahbQIBc) ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/8 "2013-09-17T17:35:24Z")
Good one! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/9 "2013-09-18T13:34:37Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Not sure how this relates to your OP, but Jesse Helms was not an unapologetic racist and segregationist, at least at those terms are commonly used and understood. As far as I can tell [he never recanted his segregationist views](http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-helms5-2008jul05,0,2715625,full.story). ISTM that makes him the dictionary definition of an unapologetic segregationist. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/10 "2013-09-18T13:52:42Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > So when he called UNC the “University of Negroes and Communists” he meant it as a compliment? There’s no real evidence that he ever said that, but even if he did it would not make him an unapologetic racist and segregationist. He was not very PC - I’ll certainly grant that. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As far as I can tell [he never recanted his segregationist views](http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-helms5-2008jul05,0,2715625,full.story). ISTM that makes him the dictionary definition of an unapologetic segregationist. There’s nothing in that article which indicates that he was ever a racist or segregationist to begin with. The fact that attempts to depict him negatively on racial issues need to rely on dubious quotes and inferences based on “code words” and opposition to affirmative action and the like would seem to be a pretty strong indicator that he was not an unapologetic racist and segregationist. If he was those things, there would be direct evidence of it, especially given his long career in politics and the media and his tendency to speak his mind. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/11 "2013-09-18T14:00:34Z")
Do these sound like the words of a man who didn’t think segregation was a good idea? [QUOTE=Jesse Helms] The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that has thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic and commerce and interfere with other men’s rights. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/12 "2013-09-18T14:15:04Z")
Back to the OP: Did John Wayne say that to Jesse Helms or not? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/13 "2013-09-18T14:23:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do these sound like the words of a man who didn’t think segregation was a good idea? Sounds like the words of a man who didn’t like disruptive civil rights marches and riots. Again, if he was an unapologetic racist and segregationist, why is it that you can’t find any instances of him saying unapologetically “I am in favor of segregation” or comparable unabashedly racist statements? Why are you trying to slide by with “do these sound like the word of a man …” type inferences? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/14 "2013-09-18T15:01:28Z")
> [@SeaCanary](#): > > ETA: For the record, to my knowledge Cruz never referred to Helms as an unapologetic racist and a segregationist. **Moderator Note** If that was the case, then you’ve pretty much poisoned the well with regard to getting a straight GQ answer by including this statement in your OP. Let’s move this to Great Debates. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/15 "2013-09-18T15:19:22Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > There’s nothing in that article which indicates that he was ever a racist or segregationist to begin with. Does this site have blink tags? I really don’t think mere bolding, italics, and size will do – the willful ignorance is strong with this one: > [@](#): > > From the beginning, Helms was schooled in the political device of using race to propel white conservatives to the polls. As news director for WRAL radio, Helms supported Willis Smith in his 1950 Senate campaign against Frank Porter Graham, the former president of the University of North Carolina. _ **The campaign theme was that Graham favored interracial marriages. “White people, wake up before it is too late,” said one ad. “Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races.”** _ ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/16 "2013-09-18T15:31:18Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Does this site have blink tags? I really don’t think mere bolding, italics, and size will do – the willful ignorance is strong with this one: But did he OUTRIGHT SAY that he “hates dem uppity negroes”? No? Everything checks out here. Carry on. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/17 "2013-09-18T15:36:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Back to the OP: Did John Wayne say that to Jesse Helms or not? Question cleaned up and reposted [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=702611) ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/18 "2013-09-18T16:02:55Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Does this site have blink tags? I really don’t think mere bolding, italics, and size will do – the willful ignorance is strong with this one: So in 1950 he supported a guy and that other guy campaigned against racial mingling and therefore Helms is an unapologetic racist and segregationist. Is this the kind of logic that you apply as a general rule? I do agree with you that willful ignorance is in play here. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/19 "2013-09-18T16:13:33Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > So in 1950 he supported a guy and that other guy campaigned against racial mingling and therefore Helms is an unapologetic racist and segregationist. > > Is this the kind of logic that you apply as a general rule? > > I do agree with you that willful ignorance is in play here. Helms didn’t just support the guy, he [developed the themes](http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-postwar/6103) of the “White People WAKE UP” flyer. So either he supported segregation, or he “just” wrote campaign material in support of segregation (and used particularly nasty racial language) . ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751/20 "2013-09-18T16:21:28Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Helms didn’t just support the guy, he [developed the themes](http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-postwar/6103) of the “White People WAKE UP” flyer. You need a better source for that claim (which is itself fairly vague). According to the [Jesse Helms Center](http://www.jessehelmscenter.org/senator-jesse-helms/key-issues/) > [@](#): > > Fiction: Helms was on the staff of the 1950 Willis Smith campaign for Senate and the staff was responsible for inflammatory campaign flyers. > > Fact: Jesse Helms was a newsman on WRAL radio and was never employed by the Smith campaign or a part of its operations. Neither Jesse Helms nor the Smith for Senate campaign ever had a part in producing the inflammatory materials that were circulated during that time. Unregulated and unmonitored small groups and individuals who were strongly opposed to Senator Graham did produce such materials. Willis Smith made it abundantly clear to his own staff that he would leave the campaign if any of them were ever to be involved in that sort of campaign. Sources – Hoover Adams, member of the Smith for Senate staff and political historian Dr. Jonathan Gentry\*. > > \*Source: The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. LXXXII, Published January 2005 All That’s Not Fit to Print: Anti-Communist and White Supremacist Campaign Literature in the 1952 North Carolina Democratic Senate Primary by Jonathan Gentry [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruzs-story-about-jesse-helms-john-wayne/668751.md?page=2)