Current:Home > NewsFormer US Sen. Joe Lieberman and VP candidate to be remembered at hometown funeral service-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Former US Sen. Joe Lieberman and VP candidate to be remembered at hometown funeral service
View Date:2024-12-23 22:36:09
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Political dignitaries, family and friends are gathering Friday to honor the late Joe Lieberman at a funeral service in Stamford, Connecticut, the hometown of the four-term U.S. senator who grew up as the son of a liquor store owner and came within hundreds of votes of becoming the first Jewish vice president in 2000.
Lieberman died Wednesday in New York City from complications from a fall, according to his family. He was 82.
Services will be held at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford. For Lieberman, a self-described “observant jew” who followed the rules of the Jewish Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, the congregation played a key role early on in his life.
He once recalled how the congregation’s former synagogue building was “a place that gave me the first sense of religion; a very special uplift,” according to a posting on the congregation’s website.
“I feel very lucky -- my adherence to the Jewish tradition is really an asset,” he said. “Religious Catholics and Protestants find a bond of common value with my beliefs and stand. It is this that makes me so proud of being an American.”
Top Connecticut Democrats, including former Sen. Chris Dodd, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Gov. Ned Lamont, Lieberman’s one-time rival for the Senate seat, are expected to attend the services Friday morning. A second public memorial is expected to be held at a future date.
Lieberman, a former state Senate leader and attorney general, was known for his pragmatic, independent streak. A moderate Democrat who ended up running as an independent to win a fourth term in the Senate, Lieberman came close to becoming Republican John McCain’s running mate in 2008. However, conservatives balked at the idea of tapping Lieberman, who was known for supporting gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes while taking a hawkish stand on military and national security matters.
President Joe Biden on Thursday called Lieberman a friend, someone who was “principled, steadfast and unafraid to stand up for what he thought was right.”
“Joe believed in a shared purpose of serving something bigger than ourselves,” Biden, who served 20 years in the Senate with Lieberman, said in his statement. “He lived the values of his faith as he worked to repair the wounds of the world.”
Lieberman came tantalizingly close to winning the vice presidency in the contentious 2000 presidential contest that was decided by a 537-vote margin victory for George W. Bush in Florida after a drawn-out recount, legal challenges and a Supreme Court decision. He was the first Jewish candidate on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Over the last decade, Lieberman helped lead No Labels, a centrist third-party movement that has said it will offer as-yet-unnamed candidates for president and vice president this year. Some groups aligned with Democrats oppose the effort, fearing it will help presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump win the White House.
Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, have four children.
veryGood! (2638)
Related
- Minnesota county to pay $3.4M to end lawsuit over detainee’s death
- 71-year-old retired handyman wins New York's largest-ever Mega Millions prize
- Georgia's rural Black voters helped propel Democrats before. Will they do it again?
- Priyanka Chopra Shares the One Thing She Never Wants to Miss in Daughter Malti’s Daily Routine
- Watch as dust storm that caused 20-car pileup whips through central California
- Why Queen Camilla's Coronation Crown Is Making Modern History
- Judge temporarily blocks Florida ban on trans minor care, saying gender identity is real
- How to keep safe from rip currents: Key facts about the fast-moving dangers that kill 100 Americans a year
- College Football Playoff bracket: Complete playoff picture after latest rankings
- Algae Blooms Fed by Farm Flooding Add to Midwest’s Climate Woes
Ranking
- Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
- Scientists debate how lethal COVID is. Some say it's now less risky than flu
- Why Queen Camilla Officially Dropped Her Consort Title After King Charles III’s Coronation
- Musicians are back on the road, but every day is a gamble
- Gun groups sue to overturn Maine’s new three-day waiting period to buy firearms
- Today’s Climate: June 17, 2010
- Bow Down to These Dazzling Facts About the Crown Jewels
- Today’s Climate: June 19-20, 2010
Recommendation
-
Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
-
Pregnant Bachelor Nation Star Becca Kufrin Reveals Sex of First Baby With Fiancé Thomas Jacobs
-
Here's what will happen at the first White House hunger summit since 1969
-
Microsoft to pay $20 million over FTC charges surrounding kids' data collection
-
Biden funded new factories and infrastructure projects, but Trump might get to cut the ribbons
-
3 common thinking traps and how to avoid them, according to a Yale psychologist
-
All the Jaw-Dropping Fascinators Worn to King Charles III’s Coronation
-
A box of 200 mosquitoes did the vaccinating in this malaria trial. That's not a joke!