The courage of character
Photo by Evan Krape September 30, 2024
Chris Christie delivers annual Soles Lecture with humor, candor and caution
Character takes courage, and Chris Christie fears the nation is losing its grip on both.
“The indispensable nature of American leadership is knowing the right thing to do and having the courage to do it,” the former New Jersey governor told a packed University of Delaware audience. “That is the essence of character.”
Delivering the annual James R. Soles Lecture on the Constitution and Citizenship on Sept. 19 at Clayton Hall, the 1984 alumnus and recipient of the University’s Medal of Distinction argued that autocrats and terror organizations worldwide have “made the calculus that America no longer has the character to identify [atrocities] as wrong and do something about it.”
“And why should they think differently?” he continued. “They have seen in our leaders the willingness and anxiousness to put self-interest before public interest.”
Christie experienced this himself in 2012, after Hurricane Sandy destroyed 346,000 New Jersey homes, shuttered schools, battered hospitals, closed water treatment plants, obstructed every major highway and left 6 million state residents without power.
When President Barack Obama called the governor’s cell phone the next morning, requesting to see the damage himself, the Blue Hen alumnus had two distinct thoughts:
First, as the keynote speaker for the 2012 Republican National Convention and one of the biggest fundraisers for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, Christie knew that it was “not a politically advantageous” move eight days before the election. (In fact, in a “very-little advertised historical point of fact,” Christie added, both the Democratic governor and Democratic mayor of New York rejected Obama’s request to visit.)
And second, Christie said, “There is no answer but yes. I didn’t take an oath of party; I took an oath of office. My responsibility was to make sure the people of New Jersey would get the opportunity to rebuild their lives. To do that, I had to engage with the President of the United States.”
When a reporter at the time asked about the experience, Christie answered with trademark candor: “The president has kept every promise he’s made,” he said of Obama.
Twelve years later, Christie refers to that experience as “the last moment of real bipartisanship on the national stage. Abandonment of character started right then. People saw me get punished politically and thought, ‘I don’t want that to happen to me.’”
Christie went on to talk about character-defining moments in leadership, such as the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.
“It takes character to accept losing,” said Christie, adding, “I’ve won elections, and I’ve lost elections, and winning is so much better. But it’s your character that says, ‘OK, give me the phone so I can congratulate the winner.’ It’s your character that makes you show up at their inauguration. It’s your character that makes you call that next person governor or president.”
Christie also cited the undeniable impact of family, faith and personal experience in shaping character, saying that it’s not only the decisions you make but the company you keep, a lesson he heard often from the late Jim Soles.
Speaking of his former professor, mentor and friend, he recalled the time Soles campaigned on the telephone lines during Christie’s 2009 bid for governor. In a thick southern drawl, Soles spoke to New Jersey constituents on behalf of a student who hadn’t been in his classroom in 25 years.
“That’s who Jim Soles was,” said Christie. “It’s why so many people love him, admire him; why he continues to be a role model for anybody who wants to be involved in public service today.”
One of those people is in the White House. Given the Blue Hen connection, Christie also shared a brief conversation he had with President Biden during his 2024 campaign.
“I said, ‘If I win this nomination, the first debate is at the University of Delaware.’ [Biden] smiled at me and said, ‘Where else would it be?’”
After the lecture, Christie fielded questions from students, ranging from his thoughts on the national debt (“Obscene. $35 trillion and growing because no one has the courage to say no [to more spending].”) to his vision for the future of the Republican party (“A little gray, overweight and outspoken,” he joked before adding, “I’d like the party to become conservative again and stand for less spending, lower taxes, economic growth and strong foreign policy that defends freedom and liberty around the world.”).
Governor Christie was also awarded the University’s Medal of Distinction from President Dennis Assanis and Board of Trustees member John Cochran.
The award recognizes individuals who have made humanitarian, cultural, intellectual or scientific contributions to society, who have achieved noteworthy success in their chosen professions, or who have given significant service to the University, community, state or region.
About the Soles Lecture
The Department of Political Science and International Relations hosts the annual James R. Soles Lecture around Constitution Day, which commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787.
The lecture honors the lasting impact Soles had on generations of UD students, faculty, staff and the state of Delaware. Soles, a political science faculty member for more than 34 years, died in October 2010. He received the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award twice and its Excellence in Advising Award, as well as the University’s Medal of Distinction. He received many honors and recognitions in his distinguished career, but he is still best remembered for his personal dedication to his students, hundreds of whom have served or continue to serve the public and their communities throughout the United States.
About Chris Christie
Christie, who served as UD class president and graduated in 1984 with a degree in political science, is the managing member of the Christie Law Firm and Christie 55 Solutions. He served two terms as governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018, during which time he was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association and to the National Governors Association Executive Committee. He chaired the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis in 2017.
Previously, Christie was the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008. He was in private practice of law from 1987 to 2001, specializing in corporate law, securities matters and appellate advocacy.
Christie was a Republican candidate for president in 2016 and 2024. In 2021, he authored Republican Rescue, which outlined his prescription for the future of the national GOP.
He is a Double Del with wife, Mary Pat Christie, a 1985 business administration graduate and fellow former UD class president.
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