Joe Lieberman, the first Jewish vice-presidential nominee of a major party, has died at 82, according to a statement from his family.
He was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on February 24, 1942. He later attended Yale Law School and in 1968, he ran the Connecticut presidential campaign of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy, until the candidate was assassinated.
The former Connecticut senator passed away Wednesday after battling with complications from a fall in New York.
Lieberman has had a fair share of glory in his political career when he was chosen by Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore in 2000 as his running mate.
The disputed election was eventually decided by the Supreme Court in favor of then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Lieberman had hailed his selection as a historic breakthrough for Jewish Americans.
Lieberman was a mainstream Democrat. He represented liberty on many issues.
In his farewell speech to the Senate in 2012, Lieberman bemoaned what politics had become.
“It is the partisan polarization of our politics which prevents us from making the principled compromises on which progress in a democracy depends, and right now, which prevents us from restoring our fiscal solvency as a nation,” Lieberman said. “We need bipartisan leadership to break the gridlock in Washington that will unleash all the potential that is in the American people.”
After years of service in the Senate, Lieberman rocketed to public attention in 1998 during the scandal over President Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He publicly condemned the former president, calling his behavior “immoral,” “disgraceful” and deserving of “public rebuke and accountability.”
His speech from the Senate floor was seen by many Democrats at the time as an act of disloyalty. But he did not care.
Lieberman enraged many democrats again after he became the founding chairman of the No Labels Group that has been considering an independent presidential ticket that may Democrats fear could splinter President Joe Biden’s vote and help elect presumptive Republican nominee former President Donald Trump in November.
Speaking about the groundbreaking senator on social media, his family said:
“Former United States Senator Joseph I. Lieberman died this afternoon, March 27, 2024, in New York City due to complications from a fall. He was 82 years old. His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed,”the statement said.
“Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest,” the statement said.
