The story behind Hurricane Sandy’s most iconic photo
And what it means for leaders leading the coronavirus response
On a tarmac in Atlantic City, then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and then President Barack Obama were captured sharing a rare and intimate moment. They were political foes, Christie had spent the last few months admonishing the President on the campaign field. Yet on that day, nothing else mattered.
This picture has been making the rounds on social media recently, after Donald Trump publicly attacked the Governors of Michigan and Washington in a recent press briefing. Trump urged Vice-President Mike Pence who is leading the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic to not call certain governors who have openly criticised the administration. “I say: ‘Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington. You’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan,” Trump said, adding “If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.”
Social media users have highlighted the spirit of bipartisanship that is seen in this photograph, and the lack of it in today’s response to the coronavirus. To make such an inference requires us to understand the back story behind the Obama-Christie relationship and what implications it may have for the leaders of today.
The Background
It was 29 October 2012 and Hurricane Sandy, one of the most dangerous hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States, had just passed. Obama had just stepped off Air Force One to tour the destruction and carnage left by Sandy in New Jersey, the hardest states hit. In total, 117 people in the United States were killed, 650,000 homes were destroyed and, at its peak, an estimated 8.5 million homes were left without power across 15 different states. The economic cost of Sandy would run well over $70 billion, making it the second-costliest hurricane at that time.
Though nearly eight years has passed since Sandy, that photograph remains one of the most searing examples of putting partisanship aside in times of crisis.
Americans were days away from the 2012 Presidential Election and polls were indicating that Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were in a dead heat. Republicans had made big gains two years earlier in the 2010 mid-terms. As is normal during elections — especially during the closing days — partisanship was rife and politics tribal with Americans divided over the economy, healthcare and foreign policy.
Though nearly eight years has passed since Sandy, that photograph remains one of the most searing examples of putting partisanship aside in times of crisis.
One of the people who lobbed the hardest attacks on Obama during the campaign was none other than Christie himself. A high profile Romney surrogate, Christie had been barnstorming across the nation criticising and admonishing the President. Just days before Sandy made landfall, a passionate Christie responded to Obama’s claim he can’t change Washington from the inside by declaring “You live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Obama. If you can’t change it from there, then we will give you a plane ticket back to Chicago.”
The former federal prosecutor was elected Governor of New Jersey in 2009 and quickly established a reputation as a Republican governor who can govern effectively in a state dominated by Democrats. By 2012, Christie was at the height of his political career. This was before the Bridgegate scandal, a time where he was the golden boy of the Republican Party — one of the most in demand surrogates for candidates nationwide. In 2011, he flirted the idea of launching his own bid for President, but ultimately became an early endorser of Romney. Initially vetted to become Romney’s Vice-Presidential nominee, he asked to deliver the keynote address — a prime speaking slot — at the nation convention where he issued a stinging rebuke of the President. “It’s time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House… You see, Mr. President — real leaders don’t follow polls. Real leaders change polls.”
It is unfathomable to think in today’s politics that a Republican Governor would dare shake hands and warmly embrace a President who hailed from the other party. But that was what Christie did, boarding Marine One with Obama to tour the ravaged coastline of Jersey Shore. Six days out from the election, it gave Obama the boost he needed to look both Presidential and bipartisan. As an Obama strategist said, “It never hurts for a President to be taking charge at a moment of national trauma.”
Praise from the Governor was effusive and free-flowing. He described his relationship with Obama as “a great working relationship” and thanked the President for his “personal concern and compassion”. The day before on morning television, he praised the Federal Government’s response to Sandy and later said that “the President has been all over this and he deserves great credit”. Obama’s praise was just as effusive. “I think the people of New Jersey recognize that he has put his heart and soul into making sure that the people of New Jersey bounce back even stronger than before. So I just want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership and partnership.”
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The Romney campaign was furious and understandably so. One Romney official described it as going “overboard”: “His own people have told him that today. There’s a fine line between being grateful and pandering.” Another said that Christie allowed for Obama portrayed as President and not a politician. Some even went as far as to lay blame of Romney’s defeat on Christie’s embrace of Obama.
As his stature and admiration grew, so too did Christie’s capital — something he was willing to deploy “constructively and consistently” across the country for Republican candidates. “It’s another sign that he’s a smart politician, and his success is no accident,” according to Dan Gerstein, a Democratic strategist. Christie’s response in the wake of Sandy made Ron Fournier declare that “the smartest man in politics may well be Christie”. Both Gerstein and Fournier are not wrong — you don’t win re-election with 60% as a Republican Governor in a Democrat-leaning state if you ain’t smart.
In a time of crisis, people expect their elected leaders to put politics aside, and when that happens, they respond very positively.
In New Jersey, Christie has been widely praised for his bipartisan approach and visible presence in response to Sandy. He has held no captives, publicly criticising his fellow Republicans in Congress over a delay in voting for a Sandy aid bill. “Do your job, and come through for the people of this country,” Christie pointedly told Speaker John Boehner. In total, 92% of New Jerseyeans approved of Christie’s response, with the greatest support coming from areas worst hit by Sandy according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll. Christie’s bipartisan approach was also widely supported, including by 69% of Republicans in New Jersey. “This is a nice exception to the typical partisan splits over nearly everything the governor does,” David Redlawsk of Rutgers-Eagleton notes. “In a time of crisis, people expect their elected leaders to put politics aside, and when that happens, they respond very positively.”
Christie’s sole focus in leading the recovery effort was seen on the morning after Sandy made landfall. On Fox & Friends, Christie asserted that his focus was on New Jersey and not on Presidential politics. “I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than Presidential politics and I could care less about any of that stuff. I’ve a job to do. I’ve got 2.4 million people out of power, I’ve got devastation on the Shore, I’ve got floods in the Northern Part of my state, if you think right now I give a damn about Presidential politics then you don’t know me.” During a briefing later in the day, Christie declared that he “didn’t give a damn about Election Day,” citing the scale of damage across the state.
Yet, Christie’s warm embrace of Obama has drawn some suspicion. Drawing straight out of former Obama official Rahm Emmanuel’s “Never allow a good crisis go to waste” playbook, some suspect that Christie had ulterior motives — especially with Christie facing re-election in a year’s time as a Republican in a Democratic state. Speculation was also mounting that the charismatic Cory Booker, then Mayor of Newark, might throw his hat into the ring to challenge Christie for the governorship. Nothing portrays bipartisanship and buy goodwill among Democrats by walking hand in hand with Obama. Others argued it would help Christie’s preparation for a presidential campaign. It would put distance between himself and Romney — a candidate that Republicans never warmed to, while showing off his ability to work across the aisle in a moment of deep political polarisation in Washington while burnishing his executive credentials.
On one front, Christie did cruise to an easy re-election without Booker as a challenger. Yet on the other, Christie miscalculated. Republicans who warmed to Christie for his willingness to take on the tough battles came to mistrust him, viewing him with a mix of suspicion and ire. And he never recovered. His 2016 campaign for President never took off, attributed by Christie to a string of attack ads by a superpac aligned to Marco Rubio which featured that photograph between Christie and Obama.
The Implications
In times of disaster, crisis or tragedy, Kenneth Walsh writes that Americans want their leaders to provide leadership in ensuring an effective response, reassurance that things will improve or are in control and a show of concern for those on the frontlines, in need or harmed. In the aftermath of Sandy, the Christie and Obama partnership delivered that leadership and reassurance to New Jerseyeans and Americans that help was on the way and things were in control.
Christie is not a model politician, but his willingness to put aside politics — days before a presidential election — to work with a President he had admonished and to call out his own party in the interest of his own state is admirable. It’s what leaders are supposed to do. We see it in the midst of the current pandemic in Governors Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York. As Andrew Reeves, an expert in presidential disaster response, writes, “When disaster strikes, citizens are fearful, and some will blame elected officials for things beyond their control. But the lens of accountability is also sharpened. Partisanship will not protect our families or our livelihoods.”
Christie is not a model politician, but his willingness to put aside politics … to work with a President he had admonished and to call out his own party in the interest of his own state is admirable. It’s what leaders are supposed to do.
While Trump’s response in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 was largely praised, his response to the coronavirus pandemic has failed to meet the urgency of the moment. He has moved to demand Governors tone down their complaints and to be more appreciative of his administration’s efforts. He has attacked Governors while deflected blame and responsibility onto congressional leaders, Governors and even the former administration. Governors are reporting that the administration is failing to provide enough support, leaving states to fend for themselves in a national crisis. Neil Young puts it best: Governors all across the country just want a President who “cares about the lives of their constituents, regardless of whether they voted for him”.
These troubling times requires leaders to stand up, to put partisanship and politics aside and to do what is right. That includes making the hard decisions and tough calls. Putting politics aside and working across the aisle. Calling out leaders who don’t get it right, but to do it in a constructive manner because at the end of the day, its about saving lives. Christie himself perfectly summed it up: “I understand that everything’s political. But the fact of the matter is when we have people dying and suffering in our state it’s not about politics.”
Spencer Zwick, a close confidant and fundraiser of the Romney campaign, offered a pensive reflection on the impact of Christie’s actions in the aftermath of Sandy. “I was one of those people who was upset at that time,” Zwick said. “But looking back… it was the right thing to do.”
Ian Tan is a former college lecturer from California with an interest in political science, comparative politics and democratic institutions. A proud UWA alum, this article was originally written in April 2020 for an Australian publication (hence the British spelling).
