The Politics of Disasters

Eight days before the 2012 election, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the New York metropolitan area. In an awkward moment of détente, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and President Barack Obama shared an embrace on an airport tarmac before an aerial tour of the destruction.

To this day, some Republicans won’t let Christie, a candidate for president in 2024 and 2016, live it down. He said it was simply a handshake, which “civilized human beings do with other civilized human beings.”