Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82
HARTFORD, Conn.– Former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 elections and almost became Republican John McCain’s running mate eight years later, has died, a report shows. statement from its president. family.
Lieberman died Wednesday in New York City due to complications following a fall, the statement said. He was 82.
The Democrat, who became an independent, never shied away from deviating from the party line.
Lieberman’s independent streak, and especially his targeting of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, rankled many Democrats, the party he aligned with in the Senate. Yet over the years, his support for gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes has sometimes earned him the praise of many liberals.
“In an era of political copies, Joe Lieberman was a singularity. One of a kind,” said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a Democrat. “He fought and won for what he believed was right and for the state he adored.”
For the past decade, Lieberman has helped lead No Labels, a centrist third-party movement that has said it will field unnamed candidates for president and vice president this year. Some groups aligned with Democrats are opposing the effort, fearing it will help presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump win the White House.
The group on Wednesday called Lieberman’s unexpected death a “profound loss” and described him as “an extraordinary figure in American political life who always put his country above party.”
Lieberman came tantalizingly close to winning the vice presidency in the contentious 2000 presidential election, which was decided by a 537-vote victory for George W. Bush in Florida after a lengthy recount, legal challenges and a Supreme Court decision. He was the first Jewish candidate on a major party’s presidential ticket and would have been the first Jewish vice president.
Gore said in a statement Wednesday evening that he was deeply saddened by the death of his former running mate. He called Lieberman “a truly gifted leader, whose affable personality and strong will made him a force to be reckoned with” and said his commitment to equality and fairness began at an early age, noting that Lieberman traveled south to join the civil rights movement. In the 1960s.
“It was an honor to stand side by side with him on the campaign trail,” Gore said.
Lieberman sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, but dropped out after a weak performance in the early primaries. Four years later, he was an independent who was nearly chosen as McCain’s running mate. He and McCain were close friends who shared their hawkish views on military and national security issues.
McCain was leaning heavily toward choosing Lieberman as the 2008 Republican Convention approached, but he opted for Sarah Palin at the last minute after a “ferocious” backlash from conservatives over Lieberman’s liberal record, according to Steve Schmidt, who managed the campaign of McCain led.
Lieberman sparked controversy in 1998 when he blasted Clinton, his longtime friend, for “disgraceful behavior” in an explosive speech on the Senate floor during the height of the scandal over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Still, Lieberman later voted against Clinton’s impeachment.
Although he had a tortured relationship with Democrats, Lieberman defended his partisan choices as a matter of conscience and said he always had the best interests of Connecticut voters in mind. Critics accused him of pursuing narrow self-interest and political opportunism.
In announcing his retirement from the Senate in 2013, Lieberman acknowledged that he “did not always fit easily into conventional political boxes” and felt his first responsibility was to serve his constituents, the state and the country, and not his political party .
During his final speech in the Senate, Lieberman urged Congress to look beyond party lines and partisan rancor to break the impasse in Washington.
“It requires reaching across the aisle and finding partners from the other party,” Lieberman said. “That is what is desperately needed in Washington right now.”
Years earlier, Lieberman became the first national Democrat to publicly criticize President Bill Clinton for his extramarital affair with a White House intern.
Harry Reid, who served as Democratic Senate leader, once said that while he did not always agree with the independent-minded Lieberman, he did respect him.
“Regardless of our differences, I have never doubted Joe Lieberman’s principles or patriotism,” Reid said. “And I respect his independent nature because it comes from strong convictions.”
Privately, some Democrats were often less charitable about Lieberman’s forays across party lines, which they viewed as disloyal. He left his party and became an independent after a 2006 Senate primary in Connecticut.
Lieberman’s strong support of the Iraq War had damaged his statewide popularity. Democrats rejected Lieberman and handed the 2006 primaries to a political newcomer and anti-war candidate, Ned Lamont, who is now serving a second term as governor of Connecticut. Citing his experience in the Senate, his influence in Congress and his support for the state’s defense industry, Lieberman was re-elected to a fourth term as an independent.
Many of his Democratic allies and old friends, including former Senator Chris Dodd, had supported Lamont in that election. Lieberman was outspoken about what he considered betrayals by old friends like Dodd, but the two men later reconciled.
In a statement issued Wednesday expressing his condolences, Lamont said he and Lieberman eventually became friends after their grueling and controversial race.
“Although the senator and I had our political differences, he was a man of integrity and conviction, so our debate on the Iraq War was serious,” Lamont said in a statement. “I believe we have agreed to disagree from a principled standpoint.”
“When the race was over, we stayed in touch as friends in the best traditions of American democracy. He will be missed,” he added.
After his rebound re-election in 2006, Lieberman decided to caucus with Senate Democrats, who in return let him lead a committee because they needed his vote to maintain control of the closely divided chamber. But it didn’t take long for Lieberman to show his independent streak and confuse his Democratic caucus colleagues.
Despite Democrats’ decision to have him join their caucus as an independent, Lieberman was an enthusiastic supporter of McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
Lieberman’s 2008 Republican Party nomination speech, in which he criticized Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, struck a deep chord with many Democrats.
Lieberman cast Obama as a political showhorse, a lightweight with a meager record in the Senate despite his enormous oratory skills as a speaker.
“In the Senate, during Senator Obama’s three and a half years in office, he has not crossed party lines to achieve anything significant, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party. Party to get something done,” Lieberman said at the convention.
“Eloquence is no substitute for a record,” he said.
Lieberman campaigned heartily for McCain across the country. Many Democrats saw it as a betrayal of Obama and his former party colleagues.
“Joe Lieberman has said things that are totally irresponsible when it comes to Barack Obama,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said in a radio interview during the 2008 race. On Wednesday, Pelosi called Lieberman a “leader of integrity and patriotism,” while acknowledging that they often disagreed on politics in a post on X.
After the election, there was speculation that Senate Democrats would strip Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as revenge. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was among those who said Lieberman should lose his chairmanship. Leahy labeled Lieberman’s attacks on Obama as “out of line.”
But at Obama’s insistence, Senate Democrats decided not to punish Lieberman for his support of McCain and the Republican ticket. Obama was eager to strike a bipartisan tone for his presidency, and giving Lieberman an endorsement helped reinforce that message. On Wednesday, Obama acknowledged that they “didn’t always see eye to eye” but noted that Lieberman had an “extraordinary career in public service.”
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent and staunch liberal, called Lieberman’s comments a “slap in the face” to millions of Americans who supported Obama.
Connecticut Democrats considered censuring Lieberman. Longtime friend and former state party chairman Nick Balletto acknowledged that many were unhappy with Lieberman and that that dissatisfaction overshadowed everything he had done for the state. Before the U.S. Senate, Lieberman served in the Senate and as attorney general of Connecticut.
‘He was the most genuine, honest and straightforward politician you are ever likely to meet. What you saw is what you got,” Balletto said. “His problems were the people’s problems… He didn’t move because the wind wanted to be there today. He stayed strong in what he believed in his heart and mind.”
Lieberman was known in the Senate for his hawkish foreign policy views, his pro-defense leanings and his strong support for environmental issues.
Five weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he became one of the first politicians to call for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and later voted in favor of the military invasion of Iraq. His vocal support for the war would later derail his candidacy for the 2006 Democratic primary in Connecticut.
Lieberman tended to vote with Democrats on most issues and was a long-time supporter of abortion rights, a position that would have proven problematic for conservatives had McCain chosen him as his running mate in 2008.
He played a key role in the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security.
Lieberman grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where his father ran a liquor store. Lieberman graduated from Yale University and Yale Law School in New Haven. As attorney general of Connecticut from 1983 to 1988, he was a strong advocate of consumer and environmental issues. Lieberman rose to the Senate by defeating moderate Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker in 1988.
After leaving the Senate in 2013, Lieberman joined a law firm in New York City. His funeral will take place Friday at Congregation Agudath Sholom in his hometown of Stamford. An additional memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Lieberman and his wife Hadassah have four children.
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Former Associated Press writer Andrew Miga contributed to this report.