Joe Lieberman, Senator and Vice Presidential Nominee, Dies at 82

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Joe Lieberman, the former U.S. Senator from Connecticut who made history as the first Jewish American to be nominated for vice president by a major party, died Wednesday at the age of 82 in New York City. 

The cause was complications from a fall, his family said in a statement.

According to his obituary, halfway through his 24-year Senate career, Lieberman was chosen as Al Gore’s running mate for the 2000 presidential election. The ticket lost one of the closest elections in American history. 

Four years later, he sought the Democratic nomination for president without success.

Lieberman was known as a "hawk" on foreign affairs, becoming one of the legislative fathers of the Department of Homeland Security, which was established in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

In 2023, Lieberman emerged as the public face of “No Labels,” a political organization designed to give Americans a third option in elections, one designed to restore civility and bring unity to the process.

Joseph Isadore Lieberman was born Feb. 24, 1942, in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of a liquor store owner. Educated at Yale, he worked as a summer intern for Sen. Abraham Ribicoff and the Democratic National Committee.

His parents impressed upon him the value of education and instilled in him an ambition to succeed. He was the senior class president and senior prom king of his high school.

Three years after completing law school at Yale in 1967, he was elected to the Connecticut State Senate. Lieberman served there for a decade and later for six years (1983-88) as the state’s attorney general. 

He was a liberal in some areas, such as environmental issues. Still, he supported some conservative causes as well, pairing with conservative activist William Bennett to combat sex and violence in music, movies, and video games.

Lieberman generally voted with his party, but he sided with Republicans on cutting the capital gains tax, funding vouchers that parents could use to send their children to private schools

In August 2000, he was chosen as Gore’s running mate on the Democratic ticket. He was seen as helping Gore offer a contrast to the scandals of the era of President Bill Clinton, of whom Lieberman had been critical during the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to Clinton’s impeachment.

With Gore opting not to run again, Lieberman launched a presidential bid.