May his memory be a blessing

For a man as genial, upright and mild-mannered as Joe Lieberman, he could inspire a staggering amount of loathing—most of all from fellow liberals. Some would never forgive his scalding speech about Bill Clinton’s extramarital affair, others his stalwart support for the invasion of Iraq, others for campaigning for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Lieberman never seemed to care. He did what he thought was right and was rewarded with four terms in the Senate—the last time as an independent—and very nearly the vice presidency in 2000. When he died last week at 82 from a fall in his New York apartment, he could lay claim to being the most consequential elected Jewish official in the history of American politics.

Today, Lieberman’s detractors may want to reconsider their loathing, and not just for politeness’ sake. Although his foreign policy views tilted right, he was also a champion of labor unions, gay rights and climate change legislation.

Lieberman wasn’t a centrist, at least not in the sense of being a difference splitter. But he never felt bound to follow the ideological herd, and had a moral code that overrode political expedience in ways that could earn him enmity and respect at the same time. After he blasted Clinton, the then-president called him to say, “There’s nothing you said in that speech that I don’t agree with. And I want you to know that I’m working on it.”

Most Americans would probably agree that our political system is ailing, not least because partisanship has become so extreme and so few politicians are willing to work across political differences or challenge the most rabid partisans on their own side. Lieberman’s political career is a model of how politics was once done differently.

Jews traditionally say of the dead, “May their memory be for a blessing.” Joe Lieberman’s memory is a blessing America sorely needs now.