Name	Chuck Hagel
Nationality	American
Image name	Chuck Hagel official photo.jpg
Office	Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
Term start	October 28, 2009
Alongside	David L. Boren
President	Barack Obama
Preceded	Stephen Friedman
Jr/sr2	United States Senator
State2	Nebraska
Party2	Republican
Term start2	January 3, 1997
Term end2	January 3, 2009
Preceded2	J. James Exon
Succeeded2	Mike Johanns
Order3	Deputy Administrator of Veteran Affairs
Term start3	1981
Term end3	1982
President3	Ronald Reagan
Birth date	October 04, 1946
Birth place	North Platte, Nebraska
Occupation	Electronics executive
Residence	Omaha, Nebraska
Spouse	Lilibet Hagel
Children	Allyn HagelZiller Hagel
Alma mater	University of Nebraska at Omaha
Religion	Episcopalian
Branch	United States Army
Serviceyears	1967–1968
Rank
Unit	Infantry
Battles	Vietnam War
Awards	Purple HeartArmy Commendation MedalVietnamese Cross of GallantryCombat Infantry Badge}}

Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel (born October 4, 1946) is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002. In 2009, he was elected as Chairman of the Atlantic Council.

Early life and family

Born in North Platte, Nebraska, to Betty Dunn Hagel and Charles Dean Hagel, who had German and Polish ancestry, he graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, Nebraska, the Brown Institute for Radio and Television in 1966 and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971. Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the United States Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) from 1967 – 1968. While serving during the Vietnam War, he received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After returning from Vietnam, Hagel worked as a bartender and radio newscaster while finishing college.

Hagel married Lilibet Ziller in April 1985. The couple live with their daughter, Allyn, and son, Ziller, in McLean, Virginia. The family has one dog, Figgie, a Portuguese water dog who was trained by Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz, the same dog trainer who trained the Obama Family's dog, Bo, as well as Ted Kennedy's dogs.

Hagel has two brothers: Thomas, also a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, is a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, and Mike, an accomplished and well known artist who currently resides in Omaha, Nebraska. Hagel's third brother, Jim, died in a tragic car accident at the age of 16.

Hagel has been an avid Nebraska Cornhuskers football fan since he was a young boy growing up in Nebraska. He and his son, Ziller, presented the coin for the coin toss at the 2005 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, in which Nebraska was victorious over the Michigan Wolverines.

Career in Washington

In 1971, Hagel was hired as a staffer for Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-NE), serving until 1977. For the next four years, he worked as a lobbyist for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and, in 1980, he served as an organizer for the successful presidential campaign of former California Governor Ronald Reagan.

After Reagan's inauguration as President, Hagel was named deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. In 1982, however, he resigned his post over a disagreement with V.A. Administrator Robert P. Nimmo, who was intent on cutting funding for V.A. programs, and who had referred to veterans groups as "greedy", and to Agent Orange as not much worse than a "little teenage acne".

Business career

After leaving government employment, Hagel co-founded Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone manufacturer that made him a multi-millionaire. While working with Vanguard, he served as president and chief executive officer of the United Service Organizations and the Private Sector Council, as deputy director and chief operating officer of the 1990 G7 Summit, and on the board of directors or advisory committee of the American Red Cross, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, Bread for the World, and the Ripon Society. He also served as Chairman of the Agent Orange Settlement Fund and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Although he was pressured by some to run for Governor of Virginia, where he had lived for 20 years, in 1992 Hagel moved back to Nebraska to become president of the McCarthy Group, an investment banking firm. He also served as a Chairman and was CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), a voting machine manufacturer.

In 1992, as President of investment group McCarthy & Co., Hagel assumed ownership and became Chairman of American Information Services (AIS), later known as Election Systems & Software (ES&S;), a manufacturer of computerized voting machines. On March 15, 1995, Hagel resigned from the board of AIS as he intended to run for office.

Election to the Senate

In 1996, Hagel ran for the open US Senate seat created by the retirement of Democrat J. James Exon. Hagel's opponent was Ben Nelson, then the sitting Governor of Nebraska. Although many people believed Hagel had no chance of winning, he won a "stunning upset" in the election, receiving 56% of the vote, winning virtually all demographic groups including many black precincts that had always voted Democratic in previous elections, and becoming the first Republican in twenty-four years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska.

Six years later in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history.

Allegations of inadequate disclosure and conflict of interest

In Bev Harris' book Black Box Voting, in an article in The Hill, Hagel is accused of having covered up his involvement with American Information Systems, Inc., the voting machine company. Harris alleges that Hagel omitted mention of AIS from the required US Senate financial disclosure forms. . Harris also says that Hagel hid his continuing investment in the McCarthy Group. Harris writes:

In October 2002, I discovered that he [Hagel] still had undisclosed ownership of ES&E; through its parent company, the McCarthy Group.

The McCarthy Group is run by Hagel's campaign finance director, Michael R. McCarthy, who is also a director of ES&S.; Hagel hid his ties to ES&S; by calling his investment of up to $5 million in the ES&S; parent company an "excepted investment fund." This is important because senators are required to list the underlying assets for companies they invest in, unless the company is "excepted." To be "excepted," the McCarthy Group must be publicly traded (it is not) and very widely traded (it is not)."

Harris contacted Victor Baird, counsel for the Senate Ethics Committee, to inquire into Hagel's disclosure statements. After some investigation, Baird agreed that Hagel apparently mischaracterized the nature of his investment in the McCarthy Group. Soon afterwards, Baird resigned -- Harris suggests, without proof, that Baird was forced to resign -- and Harris was told that he was unavailable to speak to the press. Harris says that Baird's replacement supported Hagel's characterization of the McCarthy Group as an excepted fund.

Harris and Hartmann imply that Hagel's landslide victories in 1996 and 2002 may have been due to vote tampering. Harris writes, "Hagel defeated popular Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson, who had led in the polls since the opening gun... becoming the first Republican to win a Senate seat in Nebraska in 24 years... What the media didn't report is that Hagel's job, until two weeks before he announced his run for the Senate, was running the voting machine company whose machines would count his votes.". However, Harris and Hartmann provide no concrete evidence of fraud. All they can point to is circumstantial evidence, such as the unexpected nature of the election upset (Hartmann writes, "Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely Black communities that had never before voted Republican") and the odd fact that the voting machines used to count votes in Hagel's Senate bid were built by the very same company that Hagel had recently chaired and that Hagel continued to invest in. Also, Harris reports that Alexander Bolton, author of the Hill article about Hagel, complained that prominent Republican lawyer Jan Baren and Hagel Chief of Staff Lou Ann Linehan visited The Hill office and pressured Bolton, unsuccessfully, to kill or soften the Hagel story.

Senate career

Since his election to the Senate in 1996, Hagel served as deputy whip for the Republican Caucus. He was chair of both the Senate Global Climate Change Observer Group and the Senate Oversight Task Force. He served as co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also served on the NATO Observer Group. Hagel was a member of four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Hagel's name was widely rumoured to be one of those considered by George W. Bush as a potential running mate in the 2000 presidential election. During the Bush administration, Hagel maintained a "traditionally Republican" voting record, receiving "a lifetime rating of 84 percent from the American Conservative Union and consistent A and B grades from the National Taxpayers Union." Among his most notable votes, Hagel:

Voted for the Iraq war

Voted for the Patriot Act

Voted for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts

Voted against No Child Left Behind

Voted against Bush’s Medicare prescription drug bill

Voted against McCain-Feingold

In August 2004, Hagel acknowledged that he was considering a presidential campaign in 2008.

Hagel appeared as himself on the HBO series ''K Street'' in 2003, on the episode entitled "Week Four".

On immigration, Senator Hagel supports a "pathway to citizenship" and a "guest worker program" for undocumented immigrants. On May 25, 2006 he voted for S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which passed the Senate before reaching a stalemate in the House in late 2006. On June 26, 2007, Hagel joined with Senator Ted Kennedy to support the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639).

In July 2007, Hagel was one of three Republican Senators who supported the legislation proposed by Democrats to require a troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin within 120 days. ''"This thing is really coming undone quickly, and [Prime Minister] Maliki's government is weaker by the day. The police are corrupt, top to bottom. The oil problem is a huge problem. They still can't get anything through the parliament—no hydrocarbon law, no de-Baathification law, no provincial elections"'' (from Robert Novak's interview with Hagel, published in the ''Washington Post'': "Hagel's Stand".)

During his first campaign, Hagel indicated that, were he to be elected, he would retire in 2008 after two terms in the Senate. Nebraska State Attorney General Jon Bruning announced plans to challenge him in the primaries in 2008 if he did not retire. After considering running in the 2008 presidential election, Hagel announced in 2007 that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his present term and would not seek the presidency. He has joined the faculty of Georgetown University, where his daughter currently attends, starting in the fall of 2009, as a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance and will begin teaching in the fall of 2009.

Senator Hagel's differences with his party's platform on Iraq are reflected in a change to his voting record. As reported in: ''" ... [A]ccording to Congressional Quarterly, in 2006 he voted with the President ninety-six per cent of the time... Hagel's support for Bush's policies declined—in 2007, he voted with the President just seventy-two per cent of the time."''

Hagel had a tradition of wearing costumes to work on Halloween, usually masquerading as colleagues or other notable political figures. He has arrived at work dressed as Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell, and Pat Roberts in past years.

Committee assignments

Committee on Foreign Relations

*Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs

*Subcommittee on African Affairs

*Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs

*Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection (Ranking Member)

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

*Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment

*Subcommittee on Financial Institutions (Ranking Member)

*Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development

Select Committee on Intelligence

Committee on Rules and Administration

Criticism of the Bush Administration

On August 18, 2005, Hagel compared the Iraq War to Vietnam and openly mocked Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the Iraqi insurgency was in its ''"last throes"''.

In November 2005, Hagel made a much-publicized statement: ''"To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic."'' (This was in reference to the lack of open debate in Congress regarding the Iraq War, and in defense of his assertion that the United States should withdraw its troops.) In December 2005, in reference to Bush, the Republican Party, and the PATRIOT Act, Hagel made a much-publicized statement: :''"I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."''

In January 2006, Hagel took issue with Karl Rove over controversial statements the White House advisor made concerning the mindset of Republicans and Democrats. Hagel said, ''"Well, I didn't like what Mr. Rove said, because it frames terrorism and the issue of terrorism and everything that goes with it, whether it's the renewal of the Patriot Act or the NSA wiretapping, in a political context."'' He also said that "dark clouds" are hanging over the Republican party, and ''"If you look at the environment and the atmospherics politically in this town, read any poll. The sixth year of a governing party usually ... is not good ... the country is tired, a lot of complications in these international issues, we're at war."'' Hagel further criticized the Bush administration, saying, ''"National security is more important than the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. And to use it to try to get someone elected will ultimately end up in defeat and disaster for that political party."''

In July 2006, Hagel again took issue with the Bush administration, this time on its handling of the Israel-Lebanon issue saying ''"The sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must stop."'' Following heavy Republican losses in the 2006 midterm election, Hagel penned an editorial in the ''Washington Post'' highly critical of military strategies both employed and proposed for Iraq. He unequivocally declared that ''"There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq," and called for a "phased troop withdrawal"'' — making Hagel one of the most prominent voices in his party to do so.

According to a SurveyUSA poll, Hagel has a 10% higher approval rating among Nebraska Democrats than Republicans. OnTheIssues.org rates Hagel as a "libertarian-leaning conservative".

In January 2007, Hagel openly criticized President Bush's plan to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. He called it, ''"the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out."'' Together with Democrats Joseph Biden and Carl Levin he proposed a non-binding resolution to the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which rejected Bush's policy as "not in the national interest" in a 12-9 vote. However, in a Senate vote of 94-2 to revoke executive power to replace federal prosecutors without a preliminary hearing, Senator Hagel and Senator Kit Bond were the only opposition.

After an April 2007 visit to Iraq with Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Joe Sestak, Hagel expressed his belief that the occupation of Iraq should not continue indefinitely and defended Congressional actions to set a timeline for an end in occupation. In July 2007, Hagel expressed his intention to cooperate with Senate Democrats in voting for a bill that would set a timeline to get out of Iraq.

In November 2007, he rated the Bush administration "the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus—almost every area" of any presidency in the last forty years. He also revealed he was open to running as vice-president with the 2008 Democratic nominee. In the same month, he said, ''"I have to say this is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen or ever read about."''

Despite his criticisms of the Bush administration, Hagel voted 78.1% of the time with the Republican party.

Decision not to seek re-election

On September 10, 2007, Hagel announced that he would be retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in 2009. The announcement ended speculation regarding a possible bid for the presidency in 2008.

On its website ''The Times'' reported that the Senator was a possible candidate for the cabinet position of United States Secretary of Defense in the Barack Obama administration:

Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war ''[…]'' Senior advisers confirmed that Hagel, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and one of McCain’s closest friends in the Senate, was considered an ideal candidate for defense secretary.

Senator Obama was quoted in the same article, when asked about Hagel as a potential cabinet member: ''"Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine and I respect him very much."'' Following Hagel's retirement from the Senate, in February 2009 he accepted a position as Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, Hagel endorsed Democratic Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak in his run for the United States Senate.

Vice Presidential possibilities

Hagel was rumored to be a possible Obama pick for the Vice Presidential candidacy in his 2008 presidential election ticket. On June 20, 2008, Hagel said he would consider running with Obama if offered the VP spot. He had also been mentioned as a potential United States Secretary of Defense to succeed incumbent Robert Gates in the Obama administration. and said that he would consider serving if asked. In August, Hagel indicated that he wouldn't endorse either candidate or get involved in their campaigns. However, his wife endorsed Obama. Obama later picked Joe Biden as his running mate. Robert Gates was selected to remain Secretary of Defense for the Obama administration.

America: Our Next Chapter

In Senator Hagel's new book, ''America: Our Next Chapter'', he suggests that the United States should adopt independent leadership and possibly another political party. He also believes that the Iraq War is one of the five biggest blunders in history. Hagel is critical of George W. Bush's foreign policy, calling it "reckless." He has been a major critic of the war since it started, and has stated that the United States should learn from its mistakes in the Vietnam War. He considers Bush's foreign policy a "ping pong game with American lives".

Electoral history

Republican primary for U.S. Senate from Nebraska, 1996

Chuck Hagel - 108,612 (62.11%)

Don Stenberg - 65,753 (37.60%)

Write-ins - 498 (0.29%)

Nebraska United States Senate election, 1996

Chuck Hagel (R) - 379,933 (56.12%)

Ben Nelson (D) - 281,904 (41.64%)

John W. DeCamp (Libertarian) - 9,483 (1.40%)

Bill Dunn (Natural Law) - 4,806 (0.71%)

Write-ins - 832 (0.12%)

Republican primary for U.S. Senate from Nebraska, 2002

Chuck Hagel (inc.) - 144,160 (100.00%) - unopposed

Nebraska United States Senate election, 2002

Chuck Hagel (R) (inc.) - 397,438 (82.76%)

Charlie Matulka (D) - 70,290 (14.64%)

Jack Graziano (Libertarian) - 7,423 (1.55%)

Phil Chase (Independent) - 5,066 (1.06%)

Awards and honors

In 2001, Hagel was awarded the exclusive Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans. Hagel is also Nebraska Admiral, an honorary title considering Nebraska is a landlocked state. On June 9, 2007, he gave the commencement address for North Central College and was given an honorary L.L.D. Hagel was the keynote speaker at the College of William and Mary's Charter Day in 2007, at which he was awarded an honorary degree of Public Service. Hagel served as the 2010 Clifford P. Case Professor of Public Affairs at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, speaking at public programs in New Brunswick and Newark.

Current Positions

Hagel currently teaches at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), as a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance. He is Chairman of the Atlantic Council, Co-Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board; a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Policy Board and Secretary of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future; and is a member of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) board of directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation; the Advisory Boards of Deutsche Bank Americas; Corsair Capital; M.I.C. Industries; is a Director of the Zurich Holding Company of America; and is a Senior Advisor to McCarthy Capital Corporation.

References

Further reading

University of Nebraska Press (2006)">Charlyne Berens,''Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward'' University of Nebraska Press (2006)

External links

;Official sites

Speech on U.S.-Iran Relations, Senate Speeches, U.S. Government, February 22, 2007

Sandhills PAC Hagel's Political Action Committee

;Documentaries, topic pages and databases

New York Times — Chuck Hagel News news stories and commentary

Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward authorized biography by Charlyne Berens, book information from University of Nebraska Press ISBN 0803210752

;Media coverage

Hagel low on cash on hand, raising retirement issue, ''The Hill'', January 30, 2007

Joseph Lelyveld, "The Heartland Dissident", ''New York Times Magazine'', February 12, 2006

Chuck Hagel: A Christmas Present, and Past, ''Washington Post'', December 22, 2005

Interview ''C-SPAN Q&A;'', November 13, 2005

Hagel’s ethics filings pose disclosure issue, ''The Hill'', January 29, 2003

Sen. Chuck Hagel Interview (video), ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', March 31, 2008

Connie Bruck, "Odd Man Out: Chuck Hagel's Republican Exile" ''The New Yorker'' 84/35 (3 November 2008) : 52-63

;Grassroots campaigns

Blogspot: Chuck Hagel for President, Unofficial campaign site on Blogspot

Draft Hagel '08 grassroots presidential draft site

Michigan for Hagel 2008, Unofficial Michigan campaign site on Blogspot

Students for Hagel, Unofficial students' campaign site on Blogspot

{{U.S. Senator box | before=J. James Exon | after=Mike Johanns | state=Nebraska | class=2 | years=1997–2009 | alongside=Bob Kerrey, Ben Nelson}}

Category:United States Senators from Nebraska Category:Nebraska Republicans Category:American Episcopalians Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American political writers Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:American people of German descent Category:International Republican Institute Category:American people of Polish descent Category:People from North Platte, Nebraska Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Recipients of the Purple Heart medal Category:Recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge Category:University of Nebraska at Omaha alumni Category:Reagan Administration personnel Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Republican Party United States Senators

da:Chuck Hagel de:Chuck Hagel fr:Chuck Hagel ga:Chuck Hagel ko:척 헤이글 id:Chuck Hagel he:צ'אק הייגל nl:Chuck Hagel no:Chuck Hagel pl:Chuck Hagel ru:Хэйгел, Чак fi:Chuck Hagel sv:Chuck Hagel zh:查克·哈格尔

birthname	Joseph Isadore Lieberman
nationality	American
jr/sr	Senior Senator
state	Connecticut
term start	January 3, 1989
alongside	Richard Blumenthal
preceded	Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
residence	New Haven, Connecticut
order2	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
term start2	January 3, 2001
term end2	January 20, 2001
preceded2	Fred Thompson
succeeded2	Fred Thompson
term start3	June 6, 2001
term end3	January 3, 2003
preceded3	Fred Thompson
succeeded3	Susan Collins
order4	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
term start4	January 4, 2007
preceded4	Susan Collins
order5	20th Connecticut Attorney General
term start5	1983
term end5	1989
governor5	William A. O'Neill
predecessor5	Carl R. Ajello
successor5	Clarine Nardi Riddle
birth date	February 24, 1942
birth place	Stamford, Connecticut
party	Independent Democratic(2006–present)
otherparty	Democratic (1989–2006)
spouse	1) Elizabeth Haas (div.)2) Hadassah Lieberman
profession	Politician, Lawyer
alma mater	Yale University (A.B.)Yale Law School (LL.B.)
religion	Orthodox Judaism
signature	Joe Lieberman Signature.svg
website	Joe Lieberman United States Senator }}

Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman (born February 24, 1942) is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.

Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Lieberman is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School. He was elected as a "reform Democrat" in 1970 to the Connecticut Senate, where he served three terms as Majority Leader. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980, he served as state Attorney General from 1983 to 1989. Lieberman defeated moderate Republican Lowell Weicker in 1988 to win election to the United States Senate and was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. In the 2000 United States presidential election, Lieberman was the Democratic nominee for Vice President, running with presidential nominee Al Gore, becoming the first Jewish candidate on a major American political party presidential ticket. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 presidential election.

During his re-election bid in 2006, he lost the Democratic Party primary election but won re-election in the general election as a third party candidate under the party label "Connecticut for Lieberman". Lieberman himself is not a member of the Connecticut for Lieberman party; he is a registered Democrat.

Lieberman was officially listed in Senate records for the 110th and 111th Congresses as an "Independent Democrat" and sits as part of the Senate Democratic Caucus. But since his speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in which he endorsed John McCain for president, Lieberman no longer attends Democratic Caucus leadership strategy meetings or policy lunches. On November 5, 2008, Lieberman met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to discuss his future role with the Democratic Party. Ultimately, the Senate Democratic Caucus voted to allow Lieberman to keep chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Subsequently, Lieberman announced that he will continue to caucus with the Democrats. Lieberman announced in January 2011 that he will not seek re-election in 2012.

Early life

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Marcia (née Manger) and Henry Lieberman. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Poland and his maternal grandparents were from Austria. He received an A.B. in both political science and economics from Yale University in 1964 and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. At Yale he was editor of the ''Yale Daily News'' and a member of the Elihu Club. He later attended Yale Law School, receiving his law degree in 1967. After graduation from law school, Lieberman worked as a lawyer for the New Haven-based law firm Wiggin & Dana LLP.

A spokesperson told ''The Hartford Courant'' in 1994 that Lieberman received an educational deferment from the Vietnam War draft when he was an undergraduate and law student from 1960 to 1967. Upon graduating from law school at age 25, Lieberman qualified for a family deferment because he was already married and had one child, Matt.

Personal life

Lieberman met his first wife, Betty Haas, at the congressional office of Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT), where they worked as summer student interns. They married in 1965 while Joe Lieberman was in law school. They had two children – Matt and Rebecca. Betty, who is also Jewish, later worked as a psychiatric social worker. In 1981, the couple divorced. When asked about the divorce in an interview with ''New York Magazine'', Lieberman said, "one of the differences we had was in levels of religious observance," adding, "I'm convinced if that was the only difference, we wouldn't have gotten divorced."

In 1982, he met his second wife, Hadassah Freilich Tucker, while he was running for Attorney General of Connecticut. Hadassah Lieberman is the child of a Holocaust survivor. According to ''Washington Jewish Week'', Lieberman called her for a date because he thought it would be interesting to go out with someone named Hadassah. (Hadassah is the name of the Women's Zionist Organization of America). Since March 2005, Hadassah Lieberman has worked for Hill & Knowlton, a lobbying firm based in New York City, as a senior counselor in its health and pharmaceuticals practice. She has held senior positions at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO), Pfizer, National Research Council, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Lehman Brothers.

Joe and Hadassah Lieberman have a daughter, Hani. Lieberman also has a stepson from Hadassah's previous marriage, Ethan Tucker. Matt Lieberman graduated from Yale University in 1989, and from Yale Law School in 1994. He is former Head of School of Greenfield Hebrew Academy in Atlanta, GA. Rebecca Lieberman graduated from Barnard College in 1991, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1997. She is married to Jacob Wisse. Ethan Tucker, son of Gordon Tucker, graduated from Harvard College in 1997 and received his rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Lieberman is also related to Disney Channel star Raviv Ullman of ''Phil of the Future''.

Lieberman describes himself as an "observant" Jew. In 1965 he married Betty Haas, a Reform Jew. Since the death in 1967 of Lieberman's grandmother, a deeply religious immigrant, he found renewed interest in religious observance. His second wife, Hadassah, is also an observant Orthodox Jew. "Hadassah calls herself my right wing," says Lieberman. In Lieberman's 1988 upset of Republican Party incumbent Senator Lowell Weicker, his religious observance was mostly viewed in terms of inability to campaign on Shabbat. This changed when Gore chose Lieberman as the running mate; a Lieberman press officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said: The Liebermans keep a kosher home and observe Shabbat.

Lieberman has said that there is currently "a constitutional place for faith in our public life", and that the Constitution does not provide for "freedom from religion." He attends Kesher Israel Congregation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. and Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol – B'nai Israel, The Westville Synagogue, New Haven, Connecticut. He also attends Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford.

He was the first observant Jew to run on a major party Presidential ticket. (1964 Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater's father was Jewish, but Sen. Goldwater's mother was an Episcopalian, and the Senator practiced his mother's faith.)

Early political career

Lieberman was elected as a "reform Democrat" to the Connecticut Senate in 1970, where he served for 10 years, including the last six as Majority Leader. He suffered his first defeat in Connecticut elections in the Reagan landslide year of 1980, losing the race for the Third District Congressional seat to Republican Lawrence Joseph DeNardis, a state senator from suburban Hamden with whom he had worked closely on bipartisan legislative efforts. In 1981 he wrote an admiring biography of long-time Connecticut and national Democratic leader John Moran Bailey, reviewing also in the book the previous 50 years of Connecticut political history. From 1983 to 1989, he served as Connecticut Attorney General. In the 1986 general election, Lieberman won more votes than any other Democrat on the statewide ticket, including Governor William O'Neill. As Attorney General, Lieberman emphasized consumer protection and environmental enforcement.

U.S. Senate

Tenure

In 1988, Lieberman defeated moderate Republican Lowell Weicker to win election to the United States Senate and was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. Like Bill Clinton and Dick Gephardt, Lieberman served as chair of the Democratic Leadership Council.

Lieberman was first elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in the 1988 election, by a margin of 10,000 votes. He scored the nation's biggest political upset that year, after being backed by a coalition of Democrats and unaffiliated voters with support from conservative Republicans, who were disappointed in three-term Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker's moderate voting record and personal style. During the campaign, he received support from the Connecticut's Cuban-American community which was unhappy with Weicker. Lieberman has since remained firmly anti-Castro. Six years later, Lieberman made history by winning by the largest landslide ever in a Connecticut Senate race, drawing 67 percent of the vote and beating his opponent by more than 350,000 votes.

In 1998, Lieberman was the first prominent Democrat to publicly challenge Bill Clinton for the judgment exercised in his affair with Monica Lewinsky. However, he voted against removing Clinton from office by impeachment. In 2000, while concurrently running for the vice presidency, Lieberman was elected to a third Senate term with 64 percent of the vote easily defeating the Republican Philip Giordano.

When control of the Senate switched from Republicans to Democrats in June 2001, Lieberman became Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, with oversight responsibilities for a broad range of government activities. He was also a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and chair of its Subcommittee Clean Air, Wetlands and Private Property; the Armed Services Committee, where he chaired the Airland Subcommittee and sat on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and the Small Business Committee. When Republicans gained control of the Senate in January 2003, Lieberman resumed his role as ranking minority member of the committees he had once chaired.

In the 110th Congress, Lieberman is Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is responsible for assuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal Government. In addition, he is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee; Senate Armed Services Committee, where he is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Air Land Forces and sits on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and the Small Business Committee.

Fundraising

Since 1989, Lieberman has received more than $31.4 million in campaign donations from specific industries and sectors. His largest donors have represented the securities and investment ($3.7 million), legal ($3.6 million), real estate ($3.1 million) and health professional ($1.1 million) industries.

Committee assignments

Committee on Armed Services

*Subcommittee on Airland (Chairman)

*Subcommittee on Personnel

*Subcommittee on SeaPower

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Chairman)

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Caucus memberships

Senate Caucus on Global Internet Freedom (Co-Chair)

Congressional Fire Services Caucus (Co-Chair)

Congressional Public Service Caucus (Co-Chair)

International Conservation Caucus

Presidential politics

2000 VP campaign

In August 2000, Lieberman was selected as the nominee for Vice President of the United States by Al Gore, the Democratic Party nominee for President. Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a major political party ticket. The announcement of Lieberman's selection was unusual in that it did not cause a positive "bump" in the Gore campaign's poll numbers according to a Newsweek poll done at the time. Polling also indicated that Lieberman had badly lost his televised debate against Dick Cheney, leading some to suggest later that Gore had lost the election due to choosing Lieberman as his running mate.

The Gore/Lieberman ticket won a plurality of the popular vote, with over half a million more votes than the Republican ticket of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but they were defeated in the Electoral College by a vote of 271 to 266.

Like Democratic VP candidates Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960, Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, John Edwards in 2004, and Joe Biden in 2008, Lieberman's Senate term was due to expire during the election cycle. He decided to run for reelection to maintain his seat, as Johnson, Bentsen and Biden did. All four won, but since Johnson and Biden were also elected Vice-President, they gave up their seats.

2004 primaries

On January 13, 2003, Lieberman announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination as a candidate in the 2004 presidential election.

Describing his Presidential hopes, Lieberman opined that his historically hawkish stance would appeal to voters. Indeed he initially led in polls of primaries, but due to his political positions he failed to win a support of liberal Democratic voters, who dominated the primaries.

Prior to his defeat in New Hampshire, Lieberman famously declared his campaign was picking up "Joementum"; however, he failed to provide such momentum during the New Hampshire primary debates, held at Saint Anselm College days before the primary. On February 3, 2004, Lieberman withdrew his candidacy after failing to win any of the five primaries or two caucuses held that day. He acknowledged to the ''Hartford Courant'' that his support for the war in Iraq was a large part of his undoing with voters.

Lieberman's former running candidate Al Gore did not support Lieberman's Presidential run, and in December 2003 endorsed Howard Dean's candidacy, saying "This is about all of us and all of us need to get behind the strongest candidate [Dean]."

Finally Lieberman withdrew from the race without winning a single contest. In total popular vote he placed 7th behind eventual nominee, Massachusetts senator John Kerry, future Vice Presidential nominee, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich, retired General Wesley Clark and Reverend Al Sharpton.

2008 activism

On December 17, 2007, Lieberman endorsed Republican Senator John McCain for president in 2008, contradicting his stance in July 2006 where he stated "I want Democrats to be back in the majority in Washington and elect a Democratic president in 2008." Lieberman cited his agreement with McCain's stance on the War on Terrorism as the primary reason for the endorsement.

On June 5, Lieberman launched "Citizens for McCain," hosted on the McCain campaign website, to recruit Democratic support for John McCain's candidacy. He emphasized the group's outreach to supporters of Hillary Clinton, who was at that time broadly expected to lose the Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama. Citizens for McCain was prominently featured in McCain team efforts to attract disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters such as Debra Bartoshevich.

Lieberman spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention on behalf of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Lieberman was alongside McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham during a visit to French president Nicolas Sarkozy on March 21, 2008. Lieberman was mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential nominee on a McCain ticket, although Lieberman had denied interest. ABC News reported that Lieberman was McCain's first choice for Vice President until several days before the selection, when McCain had decided that picking Lieberman would alienate the conservative base of the Republican Party. Lieberman had been mentioned as a possible Secretary of State under a McCain administration.

Many Democrats wanted Lieberman to be stripped of his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs due to his support for John McCain. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached out to Lieberman, asking him to caucus with the Republicans. Ultimately, the Senate Democratic Caucus voted 42 to 13 to allow Lieberman to keep chairmanship (although he did lose his membership for the Environment and Public Works Committee). Subsequently, Lieberman announced that he will continue to caucus with the Democrats. Lieberman credited President-elect Barack Obama for helping him keep his chairmanship. Obama had privately urged Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid not to remove Lieberman from his position. Reid stated that Lieberman's criticism of Obama during the election angered him, but that "if you look at the problems we face as a nation, is this a time we walk out of here saying, 'Boy did we get even'?" Senator Tom Carper of Delaware also credited the Democrats' decision on Lieberman to Obama's support, stating that "If Barack can move on, so can we."

Liberal members of the Democratic caucus were reportedly angry at the decision to not punish Lieberman more severely. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (who is also an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats) stated that he voted against Lieberman "because while millions of people worked hard for Obama, Lieberman actively worked for four more years of President Bush's policies."

Lieberman's embrace of certain conservative policies and in particular his endorsement of John McCain have been cited as factors for his low approval rating in Connecticut: 38 approval to 54 disapproval. "This is the highest disapproval rating in any Quinnipiac University poll in any state for a sitting U.S. Senator – except for New Jersey's Robert Torricelli, just before he resigned in 2002. Among those who say they voted for Sen. Lieberman in 2006, 30 percent now say they would vote for someone else if they could."

2006 Senate election

Primary

+'''Democratic Primary Results	!Candidate	!Votes	!Percentage
Ned Lamont	146,587	52%
Joe Lieberman	136,468	48%

Lieberman sought the Democratic Party's renomination for U.S. Senate from Connecticut in 2006 but lost to Ned Lamont, a Greenwich businessman and antiwar candidate.

Lieberman was officially endorsed by the Connecticut Democratic Convention, which met in May. However, Lamont received 33 percent of the delegates' votes, forcing an August primary.

In July, Lieberman announced that he would file papers to appear on the November ballot should he lose the primary, stating, "I'm a loyal Democrat, but I have loyalties that are greater than those to my party, and that's my loyalty to my state and my country." He stated that he would continue to sit as a Democrat in the Senate even if he was defeated in the primary and elected on an unaffiliated line, and expressed concern for a potentially low turnout. On July 10, the Lieberman campaign officially filed paperwork allowing him to collect signatures for the newly formed Connecticut for Lieberman party ballot line. On August 8, 2006, Lieberman conceded the Democratic primary election to Ned Lamont, saying, "For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand," and announced he would run in the 2006 November election as an independent candidate on the Connecticut for Lieberman ticket, against both Lamont and the Republican candidate, Alan Schlesinger.

General election

Polls after the primary showed Lieberman ahead of Ned Lamont by 5 points. Later polls showed Lieberman leading by varying margins. Alan Schlesinger barely registered support and his campaign had run into problems based on alleged gambling debts. Thus, "Lieberman was able to run in the general election as the de facto Republican candidate – every major Republican office-holder in the state endorsed him – and to supplement that GOP base with strong support from independents."

On August 9, 2006, Hillary Clinton affirmed her pledge to support the primary winner, saying "voters of Connecticut have made their decision and I think that decision should be respected", and Howard Dean called for Lieberman to quit the race, saying he was being "disrespectful of Democrats and disrespectful of the Democratic Party".

On August 10, in his first campaign appearance since losing the Democratic primary, referencing the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, Lieberman criticized Lamont, saying:

Lamont noted Lieberman's position was similar to George W. Bush's and Dick Cheney's position. Lamont said, “That comment sounds an awful lot like Vice President Cheney’s comment on Wednesday. Both of them believe our invasion of Iraq has a lot to do with 9/11. That’s a false premise.” Lieberman's communications director replied that Lamont was politicizing national security by "portraying [Lieberman] as a soul mate of President Bush on Iraq".

On August 17, 2006 the National Republican Senatorial Committee stated that they would favor a Lieberman victory in the November election over Democratic nominee Ned Lamont. The NRSC did state, however, that they were not going so far as to actually support Lieberman.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani praised Lieberman at a South Carolina campaign stop on August 18, saying he was "a really exceptional senator." Other Republican supporters of Lieberman included Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, former Representative and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Jack Kemp, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

Five Democratic Senators maintained their support for Lieberman, and Lieberman also received the strong support of former Senator and Democratic stalwart Bob Kerrey, who offered to stump for him. Democratic minority leader Harry Reid, while endorsing Lamont, promised Lieberman that he would retain his committee positions and seniority if he prevailed in the general election.

On August 28, Lieberman campaigned at the same motorcycle rally as Republican Congressman Christopher Shays. Shays told a crowd of motorcycle enthusiasts, "We have a national treasure in Joe Lieberman."

Mel Sembler, a former Republican National Committee finance chairman, helped organize a reception that raised a "couple hundred thousand dollars" for Lieberman, who was personally in attendance. Sembler is a prominent Republican who chaired I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's legal defense fund. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a fundraiser for Lieberman at his home in November, co-hosted by former mayor Ed Koch and former Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato. Koch called Lieberman "one of the greatest Senators we've ever had in the Senate."

Despite still considering himself a Democrat, Lieberman was endorsed by numerous Republicans who actively spoke out in favor of his candidacy. Lieberman was also the focus of websites such as ConservativesforLieberman06.com.

On November 7, Lieberman won re-election with 49.7% of the vote. Ned Lamont garnered 40% of ballots cast and Alan Schlesinger won 10%. Lieberman received support from 33% of Democrats, 54% of independents and 70% of Republicans.

Following the election, Lieberman struck a deal with Democratic leadership allowing him to keep his seniority and chairmanship of the Governmental Affairs Committee. In return, he agreed to vote with the Democrats on all procedural matters unless he asked permission of Majority Whip Richard Durbin. He is free to vote as he pleases on policy matters. Along with Bernie Sanders, Lieberman's caucusing with the Democrats gave them a 51–49 majority in the Senate, leaving a slim one Senator majority to control the Senate in the 110th Congress.

Criticism

While he officially considers himself a member of the Democratic party, Lieberman has been accused of being more conservative than many Republicans. His own party refused to nominate him as a candidate in the 2006 election, so he ran as an independent candidate to retain his senate seat. In February 2007, Lieberman spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the confirmation of Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium. Fox, a prominent Republican businessman and political donor, was a contributor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign in 2004. Fox is also reported to have donated to Lieberman's 2006 Senate campaign. Critics claim Lieberman was a favorite of Fox News , since he was willing to go on the conservative channel and play the role of someone in the “opposition” party who criticised fellow Democrats.

Lieberman was a supporter of the Iraq War and has urged action against Iran. In July 2008, Lieberman spoke at the annual conference of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) then later, in July 2009, accepted from John Hagee CUFI's "Defender of Israel Award". Pastor Hagee, CUFI's founder and leader, has made a number of controversial remarks, including a statement that the Catholic Church is "the great whore" and a suggestion that God sent Adolf Hitler to bring the Jews to Israel.

In May 2010, while favoring the filibuster and threatening to use it in 2009 to eliminate a public health option as part of the healthcare proposal, Lieberman once strongly opposed it. In 1995, he joined with Senator Tom Harkin to co-sponsor an amendment to kill the filibuster. “The filibuster hurts the credibility of the entire Senate and impedes progress,” Lieberman told the Hartford Courant (Jan 6, 1995).

In April 2010, Lieberman blasted President Obama for stripping terms like "Islamic extremism" from a key national security document, calling the move dishonest, wrong-headed and disrespectful to the majority of Muslims who are not terrorists.

Lieberman has favoured greater use of surveillance cameras by the federal government and referred to attempts by Congress to investigate illegal wire-tapping as "partisan gridlock". On June 19, 2010, Lieberman introduced a bill called "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010", which he co-wrote with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE). If signed into law, this controversial bill, which the American media dubbed the "''Kill switch bill''", would grant the President emergency powers over the Internet. However, all three co-authors of the bill issued a statement claiming that instead, the bill "[narrowed] existing broad Presidential authority to take over telecommunications networks". American computer security specialist and author Bruce Schneier objected to the "kill switch" proposal on the basis that it rests on several faulty assumptions and that it's "too coarse a hammer". Schneier wrote:

Defending his proposal, Sen. Lieberman pointed out that China has this capability. It's debatable whether or not it actually does, but it's actively pursuing the capability because the country cares less about its citizens. Here in the U.S., it is both wrong and dangerous to give the president the power and ability to commit Internet suicide and terrorize Americans in this way.

Sen. Lieberman has been a major opponent of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. His staff "made inquiries" of Amazon.com and other internet companies such as Paypal, Visa, and Mastercard which resulted in them suspending service to Wikileaks. Blogger Glenn Greenwald called Lieberman's actions "one of the most pernicious acts by a U.S. Senator in quite some time," and accused Lieberman of "emulat[ing] Chinese dictators" by "abusing his position as Homeland Security Chairman to thuggishly dictate to private companies which websites they should and should not host—and, more important, what you can and cannot read on the Internet." Lieberman has also suggested that "the ''New York Times'' and other news organisations publishing the US embassy cables being released by WikiLeaks could be investigated for breaking US espionage laws."

Along with Senators John Ensign and Scott Brown, Lieberman "introduced a bill to amend the Espionage Act in order to facilitate the prosecution of groups like Wikileaks." Critics have noted that "[l]eaking [classified] information in the first place is already a crime, so the measure is aimed squarely at publishers," and that "Lieberman’s proposed solution to WikiLeaks could have implications for journalists reporting on some of the more unsavory practices of the intelligence community." Legal analyst Benjamin Wittes has called the proposed legislation "the worst of both worlds," saying:

"It leaves intact the current World War I-era Espionage Act provision, 18 U.S.C. 793(e), a law [with] many problems . . . and then takes a currently well-drawn law and expands its scope to the point that it covers a lot more than the most reckless of media excesses. A lot of good journalism would be a crime under this provision; after all, knowingly and willfully publishing material 'concerning the human intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government' is no small part of what a good newspaper does."

As a result of these statements and actions, Lieberman has been perceived as an opponent of Internet Free Speech and become the target of Anonymous attacks under Operation Payback.

Political positions

Lieberman is one of the Senate's strongest advocates for continued prosecution of the war in Iraq. He is also an outspoken supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. On domestic issues, he strongly supports free trade economics while reliably voting for pro-trade union legislation. He has also opposed filibustering Republican judicial appointments. With Lynne Cheney and others, Lieberman co-founded American Council of Trustees and Alumni in 1995. Lieberman is a supporter of abortion rights and of the rights of gays and lesbians to adopt children, to be protected with hatecrime legislation, and to serve openly in the military. Lieberman is one of the Senate's leading opponents of violence in video games and on television. Lieberman describes himself as being "genuinely an Independent," saying "I agree more often than not with Democrats on domestic policy. I agree more often than not with Republicans on foreign and defense policy." Senator Lieberman is also famous for championing, authoring and leading the effort that lead to the repeal of Don't ask don't tell.

Senator Lieberman was an integral part in attempting to stop WikiLeaks from publishing further material using US-based corporations in the United States diplomatic cables leak of 2010.

Electoral history

Published works

Lieberman is the author of seven books: ''The Power Broker'' (1966), a biography of the late Democratic Party chairman, John M. Bailey; ''The Scorpion and the Tarantula'' (1970), a study of early efforts to control nuclear proliferation; ''The Legacy'' (1981), a history of Connecticut politics from 1930 to 1980; ''Child Support in America'' (1986), a guidebook on methods to increase the collection of child support from delinquent fathers; ''In Praise of Public Life'' (2000); ''An Amazing Adventure'' (2003), reflecting on his 2000 vice presidential run; and ''The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath'' (2011), written with David Klinghoffer.

See also

Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates

Notes

External links

;Official site

U.S. Senate website

;Directories and databases

Profile on SourceWatch

Profile on OpenCongress, formerly Congresspedia

Lieberman's Senate Voting Record 1989–2000 from CounterPunch

;Interviews

Senator Lieberman on the 2009 Economic Recovery

;Miscellaneous

Watch: Joe Lieberman visits the Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT

John Hagee">Joe Lieberman speaks at "Christian-Zionist" meeting, praising John Hagee (Lieberman appears at approx. 5:30)

{{U.S. Senator box | before=Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. | state=Connecticut | class=1 | start=1989 | alongside=Chris Dodd, Richard Blumenthal}}