JUST IN: Longtime Senator Joe Lieberman Dies At 82

Former U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who served four terms in the Senate in addition to running as Al Gore’s vice-presidential candidate in 2000, died at the age of 82 on Tuesday, March 27.

Lieberman passed away in New York City after suffering complications from a fall, his family announced in a statement. “His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed,” the statement noted.

Lieberman, who became the first Jewish American to run on a major party presidential ticket when he agreed to be Gore’s running mate, viewed himself as a centrist Democrat throughout his career. He supported the party’s views on a number of social and economic issues, including gun control, abortion and gay marriage. The late senator was not afraid to break with party leaders on other issues, such as foreign policy, however.

He supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a position that tanked his Democratic presidential campaign bid in 2004. After his pro-war stance put him at odds with Connecticut Democrats when he sought re-election in 2004, he switched his party affiliation to “independent.” Lieberman was able to attract substantial support from Republican and unaffiliated voters in the deep blue state.

Senator Lieberman visits U.S. troops at Camp Eggers during the War in Afghanistan.

In 2008, he shocked the nation by endorsing the presidential campaign of Senate colleague John McCain (R-AZ). He spoke on McCain’s behalf at the Republican National Convention in 2008 and was considered for a number of high-profile roles in a potential McCain administration, including Secretary of State and Vice President.

Lieberman and McCain became close over the years due to their similar views on foreign policy. ““I completely trusted, liked and worked well with Joe,” McCain wrote in The Restless Wave. “And I still believe, whatever the effect it would have had in some quarters of the party, that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would have been received by most Americans as a genuine effort to pull the country together for a change.”

The independent Senator had gone on numerous overseas trips with Republican Senators McCain and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) prior to 2008. “I have not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes,” Lieberman said towards the end of his Senate career.

The longtime Senator retired from office in 2013. He remained a firm supporter of Democratic causes after leaving Washington D.C., having endorsed the campaigns of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.