Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman
Official portrait, 2005
United States Senator from Connecticut
In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Lowell Weicker
Succeeded by	Chris Murphy
Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Susan Collins
Succeeded by	Tom Carper
In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Fred Thompson
Succeeded by	Susan Collins
In office January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
Preceded by	Fred Thompson
Succeeded by	Fred Thompson
21st Attorney General of Connecticut
In office January 5, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Governor	William O'Neill
Preceded by	Carl R. Ajello
Succeeded by	Clarine Nardi Riddle
Member of the Connecticut State Senate
In office January 1971 – January 1981
Preceded by	Edward Marcus
Succeeded by	John Daniels
Constituency	11th district (1971–1973) 10th district (1973–1981)
Personal details
Born	Joseph Isadore Lieberman (1942-02-24)February 24, 1942 Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	March 27, 2024(2024-03-27) (aged 82) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Congregation Agudath Sholom
Political party	Democratic (before 2006, from 2013) Independent (2006–2013)[1]
Other political affiliations	Connecticut for Lieberman (2006–2013) Senate Democratic Caucus (2006–2013)
Spouses	Betty Haas ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1981)​ Hadassah Freilich ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	3
Education	Yale University (BA, LLB)
Signature
Joe Lieberman's voice Lieberman questions Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on troop reductions in Afghanistan. Recorded December 2, 2009

This article is part of a series about Joe Lieberman
Political positions Electoral history Early life Early political career Connecticut State Senate Connecticut Attorney General U.S. Senator from Connecticut Tenure Democratic Leadership Council New Democrat Coalition Climate Stewardship Acts Connecticut for Lieberman Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 2000 Vice presidential campaign selection convention election Florida recount Bush v. Gore 2004 presidential campaign
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Joseph Isadore Lieberman (/ˈliːbərmən/; February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.

Lieberman was elected as a Reform Democrat in 1970 to the Connecticut Senate, where he served three terms as majority leader. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980, he served as the Connecticut attorney general from 1983 to 1989. He narrowly defeated Republican Party incumbent Lowell Weicker in 1988 to win election to the U.S. Senate and was re-elected in 1994, 2000, and 2006. He was the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in the 2000 presidential election, running with presidential nominee and then Vice President Al Gore, and becoming the first Jewish candidate on a U.S. major party presidential ticket.^[2][3]

In the 2000 presidential election, Gore and Lieberman won the popular vote by a margin of more than 500,000 votes but lost the deciding Electoral College to the Republican George W. Bush / Dick Cheney ticket 271–266. He also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. During his Senate re-election bid in 2006, Lieberman lost the Democratic primary election but won re-election in the general election as a third party candidate under the Connecticut for Lieberman party label.

Lieberman was officially listed in Senate records for the 110th and 111th congresses as an Independent Democrat,^[4] and sat as part of the Senate Democratic Caucus. After his speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in which he endorsed John McCain for president, he no longer attended Democratic Caucus leadership strategy meetings or policy lunches.^[5] The Senate Democratic Caucus voted to allow him to keep the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Subsequently, he announced that he would continue to caucus with the Democrats.^[6] Before the 2016 election, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and in 2020 endorsed Joe Biden for president.

As senator, Lieberman introduced and championed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and legislation that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. During debate on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as the crucial 60th vote needed to pass the legislation, his opposition to the public health insurance option was critical to its removal from the resulting bill signed by President Barack Obama.^[7]