Learning from Joe Lieberman to repair the American breach

This March 17 will be the "yahrzeit" of Sen. Joe Lieberman’s unexpected death in 2024, a time in Jewish tradition when family members recite the mourners’ kaddish prayer and light candles in memory of their loved one.

Those of us who knew Joe Lieberman continue to mourn his passing and miss his smile and decency.  When we have gathered at memorial services and early screenings of "Centered," a new documentary which chronicles his life, we always express the wish that there were more leaders like him in today’s harsh political environment. ("Centered" will be in Regal Cinemas nationwide on March 18 and 19.)

That yearning for comity was accentuated by the partisan atmosphere in the House of Representatives for President Donald Trump’s recent address to a joint session of Congress. We could debate which party or its leaders are more guilty of polluting the public square these days, but that would defeat the purpose of arguing for better behavior from both sides. The political divide (a worrisome "gulf of America") leaves us inches away from stalemate, and mere feet from chaos. 

Joe Lieberman departs the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump on May 17, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Image)

While Joe Lieberman can no longer speak up on behalf of civility in politics, he left us plenty of examples:

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When he gave the Democratic response to President Ronald Reagan’s last radio address in 1989, Lieberman did not abuse the opportunity to settle political scores. "Your love of this country and your fervent devotion to freedom inspired us all," the new Democratic senator said of the Republican president.

In 1991, rather than join most Democrats to oppose the use of force after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, Lieberman became the lead Democratic co-sponsor of the resolution authorizing the first (and successful) Gulf War.

Sen. Joe Lieberman joins Sen. John McCain at the Republican National Convention on Sept. 4, 2008, in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Working across the aisle with senators like John McCain, Lieberman advocated for the 9/11 Commission to investigate the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, and Arlen Specter for creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

He often joined with Republican Sen. Bob Dole in urging both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to take a more active role in defending Bosnia from Serbian aggression.

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And Lieberman collaborated with leaders in both parties to speak out against the plight of inappropriate content in video games, music and television programs, which helped lead to the creation of ratings systems that give parents more power to discern what is best for their children.

President George W. Bush speaks with Sens. Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton after an event in the East Room of the White House, June 17, 2003. (Stephen Jaffe/AFP via Getty Images)

Throughout his life, Lieberman’s advocacy of harmony and good will found expression in his fervent support for civil and human rights, from traveling to Mississippi as a student advocating voting rights to his leadership in ending the discriminatory "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy in the military and to his commitment to a cleaner environment (the latter two efforts also involved cross-party cooperation).

The senator’s many public expressions of cordiality towards people of either or no political party were matched by his behavior in private. As staffers who worked with him beginning more than 45 years ago, through many crises and controversies (rarely of his own making), we can testify to his humor, equanimity and good will. We never heard him raise his voice, even in the most tense and tumultuous of circumstances.

Joe Lieberman’s calm demeanor should not be mistaken for a milquetoast career, however. In the course of the work cited above, and many more, he was friendly, but forthright; decent, but determined. 

Al and Tipper Gore and Joe and Hadassah Lieberman wave to the crowd upon their arrival for the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 16, 2000, in Burbank, California. (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

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Thanks in good measure to his faith in God and fervent religious beliefs, he had a strong moral compass that almost always pointed him in the right direction for the betterment of society. If he fell short on rare occasions, it was never from base motives or weak principles. He was, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, a "repairer of the breach," not a source of division.

As nearly lifelong believers in the leadership of Joe Lieberman, we cannot help but feel that America and the world would have been better off if he and Al Gore had succeeded in the 2000 election. But even in the wake of that enormous – and enormously disappointing – setback in his life, Lieberman showed the same kind of grace and optimism that characterized his whole life:

"America is a great country," he said on the floor of the Senate the day after Vice President Gore conceded the election to George W. Bush. "I do think that every one of us should be grateful this morning that here in America we work out our differences not with civil wars, but with spirited elections."

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks at a panel hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran on Aug. 17, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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"It is time now for all of us to come together in support of these United States and the shared values that have long sustained us," he continued. "Psalm 30 assures us that weeping may linger for the night, but in the morning, there are shouts of joy."

Our sorrow over the loss of Joe Lieberman has lingered through the long night of his absence from our lives and politics – never more than at this yahrzeit of his passing – but we are encouraged by his stirring words and sterling example to find hope for shouts of joy once again..

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Jim Kennedy is a former spokesman for Joe Lieberman, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, the Clinton Foundation, Sony Pictures, Sony Corporation of America and News Corp. He publishes occasional columns on Substack.