I admit I have been a little preoccupied at the State Capitol of late so I may have missed it, but there does not seem to have been quite the preponderance of accolades and fond remembrances for Joe Lieberman gracing the editorial pages of the nation’s papers of record as one would expect for a political figure of the magnitude and importance of Lieberman. Inasmuch as the majority of those publications trend leftward, it may be an indication of just how long liberal editors hold a grudge, that they have never forgiven the man for his acts of ideological heresy.

Lieberman died last week at the at the age of 82, incidentally almost exactly three months older than Joe Biden. He will be remembered as that rarest of creatures, the moderate/conservative Democrat, one who consistently, doggedly and nobly defended the use of American military force to protect American national interests, regardless of which party the sitting president belonged to. It was a sin which got him excommunicated from the Democratic Party, and a virtue seldom found within either party these days.

Throughout his 24-year U.S. Senate career, he was indeed known for his hawkish foreign policy positions, support for a strong national defense and pro-growth fiscal policies. But it would be a mistake to consider him an orthodox conservative. He was still a liberal, albeit a more measured, reserved, disciplined liberal than has become the norm for the brand, one who – aside from adopting heterodox positions on a few critical issues like international affairs, capital gains tax rates and his public disapproval of the tawdry extracurricular behavior of President Bill Clinton – said, supported and voted for the kinds of things at one time could get one tagged as, oh, let’s say, running mate for a Democratic presidential candidate.

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It was a rather different world then. Lieberman’s straying from the orthodox liberal script was not the disqualifying factor it is today, in both parties. His credentials were well established; son of Stamford, Connecticut, exemplary record at Yale, law school, a brief legal career and then the initiation of his ascent within the Democratic Party, commencing with his election to the Connecticut state Senate. This was followed up by his subsequent election to the U.S. Senate in 1988, defeating the incumbent, Lowell Weicker.

This was the datum which first brought concerted national attention to Lieberman’s political career. Lowell Weicker was a liberal Republican – an actual liberal Republican, not the intelligent and effective traditional conservatives that populist wingnuts today like to call “RINOs” for the thoughtcrime of failing to pay sufficient tribute to Dear Leader – who Lieberman ran against from the right. Connecticut conservatives detested Weicker, and their support propelled Lieberman into the U.S. Senate.

His star within the constellation of the Democratic Party continued to rise until it reached its apex in the 2000 election. It began faltering soon after that, as Lieberman expressed his strong support for the War in Iraq. Most Democrats did so at that time, of course, but Lieberman’s support held steady even as one fellow Democrat after another tucked tail and turned in rapid succession. The extent of his disfavour within the party was fully illuminated in 2006, when he faced a primary challenge from a usurper named Ned Lamont, a left-wing, neo-isolationist who was put up as a way to punish the senior Senator from Connecticut for his apostasy.

Lamont won that primary, but the cheering from the Jacobin camp was short-lived; Lieberman ran as an independent and was elected back to a U.S. Senate which had 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and two independents – Lieberman and Bernie Sanders. This made Lieberman a pretty powerful figure, as the Democrats needed to be nice to him to keep their majority, and the Republicans were excited to court his vote.

He eventually retired from the U.S. Senate, but remained in the public’s peripheral vision. His friendship with John McCain, whom he endorsed for president in 2008, remained strong until McCain’s passing, a friendship which spoke highly of both men. He took on the usual roles expected of prominent former senior statesmen, and with it all his dedication to America’s defense never wavered. In his last op-ed, published in the Wall Street Journal just days before his death, he took Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to task for pandering to his party’s left, and making statements denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and suggesting American interference – against one of our allies in a shooting war with a common and barbaric enemy – if the Israelis do not depose him. It’s well worth the read.

Finally, of course, he was prominent within the “No Labels” movement, recognizing as he did the dangerous insanity of leaving the leadership of this country to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It is regrettable Joe Lieberman would have been hard-pressed to find a home in either party today. But up-and-coming politicians in both parties could do far, far worse than to emulate this good and faithful man, whose love of God and country was manifest.

Kelly Sloan is a political and public affairs consultant and a recovering journalist based in Denver.