In this June 16, 1983 photo, President Ronald Reagan greets Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. at a dinner honoring Helms in Washington. Helms has died at age 86, the Jesse Helms research center says. (AP Photo, Ed Reinke, file)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ From his early days as television commentator and on through a three-decade career in Congress, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms never left any doubt about his beliefs.

"When he wrote his book, 'Here's Where I Stand,' I felt no book was needed," said North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who won Helms' seat after he retired in 2002. "(My husband) Bob would say, 'You don't have to look under the table for Jesse. You always knew where Jesse is.'"

He was against civil rights and gay rights. Against abortion and communism. Against school busing and giving up the Panama Canal. He said "No!" so often that by the end of his first time, his hometown newspaper gave him the nickname "Senator No." It wasn't meant as a compliment — but Helms took it that way.

"There was plenty to stand up and say "No!" to during my first term in the U.S. Senate," Helms wrote in "Here's Where I Stand." ''In fact, that was why (I had) run for the U.S.