Lieberman, Joseph I.

▪ 2001

      The announcement on Aug. 7, 2000, that U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut had been chosen by Al Gore (Gore, Albert A., Jr. ) (q.v.) as his vice presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket was seen as a bold decision, and it was met with widespread approval. Lieberman was an Orthodox Jew whose religious beliefs had a pervasive influence on his life and work, and he was the first Jew on the national ticket of a major U.S. political party. He had been the first Democratic senator to criticize Pres. Bill Clinton publicly for his behaviour in the Monica Lewinsky affair, although he later voted against removing Clinton from office. It was thought that one of the benefits of Lieberman's candidacy would be to help distance the Democratic ticket from the scandals of the Clinton administration. Although he proved to be an effective campaigner and helped to build support among the party's traditional base, the ticket narrowly lost the election. Lieberman, however, also appeared on the Connecticut ballot for reelection to the Senate, a contest he won easily.

      Lieberman was born on Feb. 24, 1942, in Stamford, Conn. He earned B.A. (1964) and LL.B. (1967) degrees from Yale University. During the 1960s he was active in the civil rights movement, and he practiced law briefly. In 1970, in a campaign in which Clinton, then a student at Yale, served as a volunteer, Lieberman was elected to the Connecticut Senate, and he was majority leader from 1975 to 1981. In 1980 Lieberman was defeated in a bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but two years later he was elected Connecticut attorney general. In 1988 he won election to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Orthodox Jew to sit in that body, and he was reelected in 1994. Lieberman, who served as the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, took a generally centrist stance. Although he supported Democratic positions on issues such as campaign finance reform, abortion rights, and gun control, he broke ranks with his party by advocating school vouchers, cuts in capital gains taxes, and limits on liability awards. He was the author of five books, including the memoir In Praise of Public Life (2000), which he wrote with Michael D'Orso.

      Early in the campaign Lieberman was criticized for a speech in which he called for a greater role for religion in public life. The Anti-Defamation League as well as many individuals said that his remarks violated the spirit of the principle of separation of church and state. Nonetheless, he continued to emphasize the importance of morality in government at the same time that he promoted the Democratic platform.

Robert Rauch

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