Former Senator Joe Lieberman, Democrats' V-P pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former US Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice-presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and who almost became Republican John McCains running mate eight years later, has died, according to a statement issued by his family.Lieberman died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from a fall, the statement said.

Former US Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice-presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and who almost became Republican John McCain's running mate eight years later, has died, according to a statement issued by his family.

Lieberman died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from a fall, the statement said. He was 82.

The Democrat-turned-independent was never shy about veering from the party line.

Lieberman's independent streak and especially his needling of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential contest rankled many Democrats, the party he aligned with in the Senate. Yet his support for gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes at times won him the praise of many liberals over the years.

Lieberman came tantalisingly 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 and would have been the first Jewish vice-president.

Lieberman sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 but dropped out after a weak showing in the early primaries. Four years later, he was an independent who was nearly chosen to be McCain's running mate. He and McCain were close pals who shared hawkish views on military and national security matters.

Lieberman generated controversy in 1998 when he scolded President Bill Clinton, his friend of many years, for ''disgraceful behaviour'' in an explosive speech on the Senate floor during the height of the scandal over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Yet Lieberman later voted against the impeachment of Clinton.

He defended his partisan switches as a matter of conscience, saying he always had the best interests of Connecticut voters at heart. Critics accused him of pursuing narrow self-interest and political expediency.

In announcing his retirement from the Senate in 2013, Lieberman acknowledged that he did ''not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes'' and felt his first responsibility was to serve his constituents, state and country, not his political party. He had a tortured relationship with Democrats.

''It requires reaching across the aisle and finding partners from the opposite party,'' said Lieberman. ''That is what is desperately needed in Washington now.'' Privately, some Democrats were often less charitable about Lieberman's forays across party lines, which they saw as disloyal. He bolted his party and turned independent after a 2006 Senate primary loss in Connecticut.

Lieberman's strong support of the Iraq War hurt his statewide popularity. Democrats rejected Lieberman and handed the 2006 primary to a political newcomer and an anti-war candidate, Ned Lamont.

Defying Democratic leaders and friends, Lieberman ran successfully for reelection as an independent and drew support from some Republican allies. Lieberman won praise from the White House and fundraising help from prominent Republicans, such as then-New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Lieberman made his Senate experience and congressional clout a strong selling point, saying he'd fight hard for the state's defence jobs and its fair share of federal largesse. The strategy paid off.

Lieberman won reelection to a fourth term, even though many of his Democratic allies and longtime friends, including former Senator Chris Dodd, supported Lamont. After his rebound reelection in 2006, Lieberman decided to caucus with Democrats in the Senate, who let him head a committee in return because they needed his vote to help keep control of the closely divided chamber. But it wasn't long until Lieberman was showing his independent streak and ruffling his Democratic caucus colleagues.

Despite the decision of Democrats to let him join their caucus as an independent, Lieberman was an enthusiastic backer of McCain in the 2008 presidential contest.

Lieberman's speech at the 2008 GOP presidential nominating convention criticising Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, struck a deep nerve with many Democrats.

Lieberman cast Obama as a political show horse, a lightweight with a thin record of accomplishment in the Senate despite his soaring eloquence as a speaker.

Lieberman campaigned heartily across the country for McCain. Many Democrats considered it a betrayal to Obama and his former party colleagues.

''Joe Lieberman has said things that are totally irresponsible when it comes to Barack Obama,'' House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said in a radio interview during the 2008 race.

Lieberman was known in the Senate for his hawkish foreign policy views, his pro-defence bent and his strong support for environmental causes.

Five weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks, he became one of the first politicians to call for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and later voted in favour of the military invasion of Iraq. Lieberman tended to vote with Democrats on most issues and was a longtime supporter of abortion rights, a stance that would have proved problematic with conservatives had McCain chosen him as his running mate in 2008.

Lieberman grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where his father ran a liquor store. Lieberman graduated from Yale University and Yale Law School in New Haven. Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, have four children.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)