KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Tomorrow New Jersey gets a new governor, Democrat Phil Murphy. That means Chris Christie will finally leave office. Christie, a Republican, served for term-limited eight years in the majority blue state. And he spent a lot of time in the national spotlight building a reputation as a tell-it-like-it-is politician who wanted to be president until Donald Trump stole his brand. Nancy Solomon of member station WNYC has followed Christie since his days as a federal prosecutor fighting corruption, and she has this look back.
NANCY SOLOMON, BYLINE: Chris Christie was loved for speaking unlike any politician in the country. There was his warning when a hurricane was approaching.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE: Get the hell off the beach in Asbury Park and get out. You're done. It's 4:30. You've maximized your tan. Get off the beach.
SOLOMON: And he was hated for speaking unlike any politician in the country.
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CHRISTIE: You want to have the conversation later? I'm happy to have it, buddy. But until that time sit down and shut up.
SOLOMON: But he was never boring. In Christie's first year, a YouTube video of a press conference went viral when a columnist asked if the governor's confrontational tone might hamper his ability to get bills passed.
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CHRISTIE: You must be the thinnest-skinned guy in America because - you think that's a confrontational tone? Then, you know, you should really see me when I'm pissed.
(LAUGHTER)
SOLOMON: Also that year, Christie made the first of more than 40 trips to Iowa over both terms. These two things - his YouTube moments that went viral and his presidential ambitions - turned out to be the defining features of his eight years as governor. Christie doubled the budget of his communications staff and deftly used video clips from town hall meetings to build his national profile.
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CHRISTIE: If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk, well, then I have no interest in answering your question.
I got sent here to do a job. I didn't get sent here to be elected prom king.
I have something better to do. I have to rearrange my sock drawer tonight.
SOLOMON: Christie became a rising star in the national Republican Party, considered for the job of running mate to Mitt Romney, chairing the Republican Governors Association, and a regular on cable news and late-night TV. Then came Hurricane Sandy.
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CHRISTIE: Good morning. I know that many people in our state woke up today to absolute devastation.
SOLOMON: Wearing a blue fleece, he was omnipresent in the weeks that followed, touring the destruction, hugging homeowners and giving daily press briefings.
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CHRISTIE: I'll first say to all of you, especially those out there who are facing loss, devastation and the heartbreaking reality that your home may be gone, we are with you.
SOLOMON: Romney lost the presidential election a week later. And with approval ratings soaring, Christie saw his own path to the presidency. Patrick Murray of the Monmouth University Polling Institute says Christie wanted a landslide re-election in 2013 that would prove he was a big-tent Republican who could win over Democrats.
PATRICK MURRAY: But in order to do that, his campaign had to really use some very nasty tactics to twist arms to get Democrats to support him.
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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The GW bridge is totally gridlocked.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Ten-four. We're getting calls from irate motorists.
MURRAY: And that's where Bridgegate came from, but by doing that ended up being the source of his downfall once it became revealed what kind of tactics they were using.
SOLOMON: Three top staffers would be convicted of causing a week-long traffic jam to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election. Even though he was never charged with a crime, his image as a man who was above politics was destroyed. Yet polls showed it was Christie's inattention to governing - he spent 261 days out of state in 2015 - that really bothered New Jerseyans.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Listen because he's going say something that I think you'll find very, very interesting.
SOLOMON: Then his approval ratings took another hit.
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CHRISTIE: Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States.
SOLOMON: Patrick Murray, the pollster, says Christie's constituents started to feel that he was treating them and his job as governor with contempt.
MURRAY: And people continue to say this is a guy who is still looking for an out, still looking for, you know, a place in the Trump administration or some other way to get out of New Jersey.
SOLOMON: The low point hit this past Fourth of July weekend. During a low-stakes standoff that nevertheless led to the shutdown of state government, Christie was photographed spending a day at the beach with his family, a completely empty state beach that was closed to everyone else because of the shutdown. His approval rating sunk to the mid-teens and never recovered. In his final speech as governor last week, he made his case for his legacy.
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CHRISTIE: This - all of this - is due to our efforts, not bowing to political correctness, not worrying about being loved today.
SOLOMON: Christie hasn't said what he'll do next. But after watching him for 15 years, it's hard to imagine a Chris Christie who isn't involved in politics. For NPR News, I'm Nancy Solomon.
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