Former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2000 election, passed away Wednesday at age 82, The Washington Post reported.
Lieberman’s family said the cause of his death was a fall, the outlet noted. (RELATED: ‘They’re Our Enemies’: Joe Lieberman Warns Biden Admin Against Pursuing Iran Nuclear Deal ‘At Any Price’)
Breaking news: Joseph I. Lieberman, the doggedly independent four-term U.S. senator from Connecticut who was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, becoming the first Jewish candidate on the national ticket of a major party, died at 82. https://t.co/QAowaD6l6p
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 27, 2024
Lieberman made history when he was the first Jewish vice presidential nominee when he was selected as Al Gore’s running mate in 2000. Lieberman was very public about his attachment to the Jewish faith.
“Lieberman was a Jew from my hometown. He prayed at the same synagogue my family belongs to in Stamford. He prayed at the same synagogue I went to periodically in college. I saw him walking to the Capitol a few times on Saturday from his home in Georgetown. It was very cool to see a[n] observant Jew in prominent public office,” Jake Sherman, founder of Punchbowl News, tweeted in memory of the former senator.
Lieberman was a Jew from my hometown. He prayed at the same synagogue my family belongs to in Stamford. He prayed at the same synagogue I went to periodically in college. I saw him walking to the Capitol a few times on Saturday from his home in Georgetown. It was very cool to see… https://t.co/PNemEcEfun
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 27, 2024
The former senator lost the 2006 Democratic primary election but managed to win the election under an independent ticket as an Independent Democrat, according to Ballotpedia. Lieberman managed to win that race with 49.71 percent, beating Ned Lamont, the candidate who had beaten Lieberman in the preceding primary, according to Uselectionatlas.org.
In 2008, Lieberman broke with his party by endorsing John McCain for president, though he continued to caucus with the Democrats and endorsed the party’s presidential nominees in 2016 and 2020.
Lieberman retired from politics in 2013 following the conclusion of his fourth term in the Senate, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
WATCH LIEBERMAN’S SPEECH ENDORSING JOHN McCAIN FOR PRESIDENT AT THE 2008 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION: