MORE ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
The Centrist Solution
The Centrist Solution is a fascinating political memoir. But it is much morea sustained argument in favor of a politics of cooperation across party lines that is sadly out of fashion. Joe Lieberman has done as much as any American to sustain and restore this politics, which we need more than ever.
william galston , Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
The Centrist Solution eloquently conveys the essential philosophy of one of the most thoughtful, principled, and effective lawmakers to serve our country in recent years. At a moment when Democrats and Republicans are mired in partisan gridlock, Senator Lieberman makes a persuasive and urgent case for how Washington can get moving again.
general david petraeus , US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA
I witnessed Joe Liebermans skill during my years with him in the Senate, and if we want to end government gridlock, we must heed the lessons he offers in The Centrist Solution strategic negotiation across party lines that is actually productive.
senator dan coats , former Senator (R-Indiana) and Director of National Intelligence
also by senator joe lieberman
The Power Broker:
A Biography of John M. Bailey, Modern Political Boss
The Scorpion and the Tarantula:
The Struggle to Control Atomic Weapons, 19451949
The Legacy:
Connecticut Politics, 19301980
Child Support in America:
Practical Advice for Negotiatingand CollectingA Fair Settlement
In Praise of Public Life (with Michael DOrso)
An Amazing Adventure:
Joe and Hadassahs Personal Notes on the 2000 Campaign
(with coauthor Hadassah Lieberman and Sarah Crichton)
The Gift of Rest:
Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath
(with David Klinghoffer)
With Liberty and Justice:
The Fifty-Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai
(with Rabbi Ari D. Kahn)
For my family and yours
with faith in the future of Americas democracy
Copyright 2021 by Joe Lieberman
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For more information, email
Diversion Books
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First Diversion Books edition, October 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 9781635769043
eBook ISBN: 9781635769050
Printed in The United States of America
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Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data is available on file
INTRODUCTION
The Nightmares of John Adams
There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other.
This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
john adams ,
Second President of the United States
F or the last few decades, the American people have been living through what John Adams considered the greatest political evil under our Constitutionand our country has suffered greatly. In this dreaded nightmare, we have become more divided, our largest problems remain unsolved, and our international leadership has been compromised.
For the future of our country and our children, we must find a way to do better. I have written this book with the goal of helping our leaders and the people who elect them find that better way. Within these pages, I will share stories that illustrate what I learned during forty years in elective officetwenty-four in the US Senateabout how to make Americas government work. This book is a call for the restoration of bipartisanship and centrism to Washington. When put into practice, those methods have always enabled our democracy to function best.
Centrism is not an ideology like liberalism, conservatism, socialism, or fascism. It is a strategy for how to govern in a democracy. It is the bringing together of people from different parties and ideologies to genuinely listen to each other so they can negotiate compromises and get things done for their constituents and country. The ideologies and priorities of the Republican and Democratic parties have naturally changed over the course of American history, but the need for bipartisanship and centrism to bring them together has not. It remains the bestoften the onlyway for democratic governments to produce results.
Centrism is not the same as moderation. However, being a moderate makes it easier to find the way to the center because most moderates are already there on matters of policy. Centrism is anathema to extremists of the Left and Right because getting together in the center requires that they compromise, which they abhor. They dont understand that the compromises required in the problem-solving center are not compromises of principle, morality, or ethics. As I learned in my ten years in the state senate and two dozen in the US Senate, the big choices are not between right and wrong. They are between solving problems or having another futile political fight; between demanding 100 percent of what you want or engaging in some give-and-take with the other party to actually get something done.
Here is a simplistic illustration of my point in the area of economic policy. The Far Right argues for pure, free market capitalism with no governmental involvement. The Far Left argues that the government itself should control most of the economy. Center-left and center-right leaders avoid those extremes and find a common ground that preserves private property ownership and free markets but regulates them to protect the public interest. Centrists understand these words from the Talmud: Without governments, people would treat each other like fishthe big ones would eat the little ones. But centrists also remember Winston Churchills wisdom: Some regard private enterprise as if it were a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look upon it as a cow they can milk... A handful see it for what it really isthe strong horse that pulls the whole cart.
Its no coincidence that I chose private enterprise and a quotation from Winston Churchill in my illustration of centrism; one is a hallmark of democratic nations and the other is a man who spent a lifetime in government service under a parliamentary democracy. Both were bulwarks against dictatorships.
Centrism is irrelevant in a dictatorship because the dictator stifles all differences of opinion.
But in a democracy, centrism is essential. Why? Because in democracies, the perpetual challenge is to form a majority from the multitude of parties, factions, and opinions that freedom freedom of speech, assembly, religion, conscience, and moremakes possible.
Its valuable to look back at American history, which shows how important centrism has been to our national journey beginning with the critical compromises that allowed our founders to reach agreement at the Constitutional Convention to form our government and protect our independence. I will do that in Chapter One.
As I look back on my two-plus decades in the US Senate, all of the important legislation I helped enact began and ended in the bipartisan center. I will describe the legislative products I am most proud of in the pages ahead. They span a wide spectrum of policy, including the Clean Air Act of 1990; the legislative campaign to support American military action to stop post-Cold War aggression and genocide in the Balkans; the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the reform of Americas intelligence agencies after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001; the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 made possible by the odd-couple centrist partnership of President Bill Clinton and Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich; and the repeal of the anti-gay Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy in our military, which I cosponsored with my Republican colleague, Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
