Joe Lieberman, the former Connecticut senator and Al Gore’s Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, has died. He was 82.
His family said in a statement that he died due to complications from a fall.
“Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest,” his family said. His wife, Hadassah, and other family members were at his side when he died, according to the statement.
At the time of his death, Lieberman was leading an effort to recruit a candidate for the group No Labels, which has been seeking a “unity” ticket to run independently of the Democratic and Republican parties.
When then-Vice President Gore selected Lieberman to be his running mate in 2000, it was greeted somewhat coolly on the progressive side of the party, as he had staked out centrist and even conservative positions during his tenure in Congress.
Born on February 24, 1942, in Stamform, CT, Lieberman served as Connecticut’s attorney general from 1983-89 before being elected to the Senate in 1989. He would serve in that body until early 2013, listed in the 110th and 111th Congress as an Independent Democrat. Along the way, he chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee from 2001-03 and again from 2007-13, during the Obama administration.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Lieberman often was a target of late-night comedy shows, with Chris Parnell playing on the night that Gore hosted the NBC staple. He was a frequent target on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart‘s Indecision 2000 episodes, with the then-host skewering Lieberman by comparing him to the canine cartoon character Droopy. The senator himself appeared on the show more than a half-dozen times.
Lieberman appeared on Sunday Beltway shows and guested on talkers hosted by Conan O’Brien, Larry King, Tavis Smiley and Charlie Rose.
MORE TO COME…
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.
