Former vice presidential candidate and long-serving U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman died Wednesday afternoon at the age of 82.
Lieberman’s family released a statement on his sudden passing, attributing his death to injuries he experienced in a fall.
“Former United States Senator Joseph I. Lieberman died this afternoon, March 27, 2024, in New York City due to complications from a fall,” the 2000 vice presidential nominee’s family said in a statement shared on social media by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“He was 82 years old. His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed,” the family also said.
The late senator’s family concluded, “Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest.”
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Statement from the family of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
NEW YORK, NY — The family of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman issued the following statement today:
“Former United States Senator Joseph I. Lieberman died this afternoon, March 27, 2024, in New York City due to complications…
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 27, 2024
A funeral will be held for Lieberman at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, Connecticut — his hometown — on Friday.
According to Tapper, another memorial service will be held at a later date.
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Lieberman was first elected to the Senate in 1988 and served as a member of the upper chamber from 1989 until 2013.
Not even losing his primary in 2006 kept Lieberman out of office for an additional term.
He ran in the general election that year as an independent and won. Lieberman remained politically independent for the remainder of his life, though he caucused with the Democrats.
While he was well known in Connecticut before he was elected to the Senate, Lieberman became a national figure in 2000 when then-Vice President Al Gore selected him to be his running mate after he clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a major party presidential ticket.
Gore and Lieberman almost defeated then-Texas Governor George W. Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney in an election that took weeks to decide.
Lieberman returned to the Senate after he and Gore were defeated and became known for his willingness to work with Republicans.
As Newsweek noted, Lieberman showed public support for then-president Donald Trump in 2017 and was also willing to publicly criticize former President Barack Obama.
Lieberman is survived by three adult children and his wife, Hadassah Lieberman.
The late former senator earned degrees from Yale in the 1960s before he became an attorney and was active in the civil rights movement.
