Mr Helms never cared very much what his critics thought. If he did, he certainly would not have been so outspoken

Outside America, Senator Helms is known best for his forthright opposition to America's involvement in, well, anything - or so it seemed at times.

Throw in what sometimes looked like a vendetta against publicly-funded arts, allegations of homophobia and sexism, and Mr Helms looks like a caricature of an American right-winger.

Political career

Jesse Helms started political life as a Democrat, albeit a conservative-sounding one, who worked as a newspaper editor and a television commentator.

Senator Helms revelled in his conservative image

He first went to the Senate to represent North Carolina in 1972.

Arguably he has polarised voters in that state, as he did opinion throughout the country; in each of his five contests he has never won more than 55% of the votes.

He became known as 'Senator No' - a reference to his refusal to ratify international treaties and his obstinate blocking of other executive actions.

Isolationist

It was Mr Helms who stopped the US paying its dues to the United Nations; Mr Helms who blocked ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Kyoto Protocol on global warming; and Mr Helms who opposed the use of US troops in Bosnia.

A consistent critic of Fidel Castro's regime

"I will not support sending American soldiers to fight and to die for the sake of an agreement not yet reached which may offer no more than the promise of a brief pause while all sides prepare for the next round of Balkan wars," he said.

Before he became Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he attacked accords such as the Panama Canal Treaty and the Salt II arms reductions pact.

As committee Chairman he clashed with the Clinton administration. Its multilateral approach to foreign relations did not fit in with his view of how America should operate.

He helped sink the administration's attempts to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1999, and in 2000 made it clear that a modified 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty would not pass the Senate.

Mr Helms also spoke out against Fidel Castro's rule in Cuba, sponsoring the Helms-Burton Bill which attempted to levy sanctions on non-American companies that traded with Cuba.

He was swift to criticise the United Nations, which he believed over-reached itself.

Mr Helms never cared very much what his critics thought. If he did, he certainly would not have been so outspoken about what he perceived to be the ills of modern life.

Liberal wrath

On domestic issues he raised the wrath of liberals around the country with his crusades against abortion, affirmative action and homosexuality.

You needed that job. And you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. Is that really fair?

Senator Jesse Helms

His high-profile opposition to the nomination of some black Americans to judicial and ambassadorial positions also led to accusations of racism.

"Just think about it - homosexuals, lesbians - disgusting people - marching in our streets, demanding all sorts of things including the right to marry each other and the right to adopt children. How do you like (that)?" he said.

It might be tempting to look upon Mr Helms and his career as a relic of a different era - the old Southern segregationist who thought that black people were all right in their place.

But Mr Helms tapped into the fears of many white, middle and working class American people who thought that their country was somehow being taken away from them by the liberals in government in Washington, and in control of the media in New York.

He exploited those fears in his election campaigns.

"You needed that job. And you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. Is that really fair?" he asked potential voters.

Rocking the free world

But there is also a compassionate side to Senator Helms that few of his critics might believe.

Helms (left) with U2's Bono: Alliance to cut Third World debt

He was, it is reported, in tears when Bono, lead singer of rock group U2 and anti-debt campaigner, told him of the suffering that debt caused in the developing world.

He campaigned for the passage of a debt relief bill though Congress.

It was the relationship with Bono that brought the 79-year-old to his first ever pop concert in Washington DC this year.

Although many Conservatives will be mourning his retirement, Republicans are already working out what it means for their prospects of regaining control of the Senate in the elections next year.

Candidates are already lining up. They look very different from Senator Helms. The Republican Party will strain every sinew to retain his seat.