A couple of Connecticut political scientists are not surprised by speculation in Washington that former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is on the White House short list to replace U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
UConn political scientist Ron Schurin says it not unusual for a former U.S. senator to be appointed to the U.N.
“Henry Cabot Lodge was ambassador to the U.N. in the Eisenhower administration. And other political figures such as Adlai Stevenson during the Kennedy administration. President Truman had Senator Warren Austin, a Republican, as one of the American delegates to the U.N. in the early days. And that was a logical move toward cementing the bipartisan foreign policy. So there’s nothing dramatic or unusual about this.”
Sacred Heart University political scientist Gary Rose says Lieberman publicly supported Trump‘s move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, so he’s not surprised that Lieberman would be considered for the U.N. job.
“He’s certainly more in line in many ways, I would say, with the Republican establishment on multiple issues, a number of issues, compared to the progressive movement of the Democratic Party.”
It’s not the first time that Lieberman’s name has been floated for a high profile job in Washington. A source close to Lieberman says he would probably accept the ambassadorship, if offered.
