(UnitedVoice.com) – Former Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) served in the upper chamber for more than 20 years. He ran as vice president in one of the most controversial races in American history. Now, he has passed away.

On March 27, Lieberman died in Manhattan at the age of 82. According to reports, he fell at his home in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. He went to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for treatment but later passed away from complications.

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1942. He traveled to Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement to help African Americans get the right to vote. In 1964, Lieberman obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from Yale University. He went on to graduate from Yale Law School in 1967 and work in the private sector.

In 1970, Lieberman won an election to the Connecticut Senate, where he served for 10 years. Four years after taking office, he rose to the level of majority leader and remained there until he lost reelection in 1980. Three years later, in 1983, he became the state’s attorney general.

Connecticut voters sent Lieberman to the US Senate in 1989. He remained there until 2013. But in 2000, while serving as a senator, he ran as Democrat Al Gore’s vice presidential nominee. He was the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket. The two men won the popular vote, but the Supreme Court stopped a recount in Florida, handing the victory to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Throughout his time in the US Senate, Lieberman often bucked his party. He was one of the first Democrats to condemn President Bill Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In 2007, he endorsed John McCain for president and even spoke at the Republican National Convention. Later, under President Barack Obama, he was pivotal in having the public option stripped from the Affordable Care Act.

In recent years, Lieberman was an integral part of No Labels. The group put out a statement mourning his death and calling it a “profound loss for all of us.”

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