Jesse Helms, the North Carolina Republican senator who was a crusader against communism, liberalism, abortion and also against the nation’s civil rights movement, died on Friday at the age of 86. According to Newsday, he was nicknamed “Senator No” because he opposed so many initiatives.

He died at the Mayview Convalescent Center in Raleigh, N.C., but the cause of death was not stated. It was a known fact that his family said 2 years ago the former U.S. Republican senator from North Carolina suffered from vascular dementia. During his last year in the Senate, Jesse Helms had heart problems, prostate cancer and Paget’s disease.

The ex-senator maintained his beliefs throughout his life, especially his views regarding race and civil rights.

“I can't think of many other examples of major opponents of the civil rights movement that didn't modify their view on civil rights,” said William Link, a professor at the University of Florida and a Helms biographer, according to The Associated Press.

Jesse Helms was an influential politician and was occasionally named the protector of the new right. He was a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and he was known for pushing to withhold U.S. dues owed to the United Nations. He opposed gun restraint and threatened to revoke federal payments for art groups and school busing.

Regarding some accusations that he was a racist, Helms said that the civil rights movement was corrupt or self-serving, adding that he had a good relationship with African Americans.

“I felt that the citizens of my community, my state and my region of the country were being battered by this new form of bigotry,” Helms wrote in his 2005 memoirs.