How Joe Lieberman went from anti-war candidate to pro-war pariah

Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's death on Wednesday led to many retrospectives about the 82-year-old's high-profile place in national elections, including his history-making turn in 2000 as the first Jewish person on a major party ticket, his doomed 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his ardent support for Republican John McCain in 2008. 

But as is our wont at Daily Kos Elections, we're closely examining his career in Nutmeg State politics, including the triumphs and setbacks he incurred along the way.

Lieberman, who already was nicknamed "Senator" while a student at Yale, got his start in politics by working part-time on former Gov. Abraham Ribicoff's successful Senate campaign in 1962. Lieberman served as a summer intern for Ribicoff the following year, which was the same year he traveled to Mississippi to encourage Black residents to register to vote.

Around that time, as a college senior, Lieberman wrote his honors thesis on John Bailey, the powerful state Democratic Party leader and Democratic National Committee chair who would serve as an early mentor. That support would prove crucial in 1970 when Lieberman decided to run for a state Senate seat in New Haven even though he knew he might need to go up against powerful Democrat, state Senate Majority Leader Ed Marcus.