Herbert Hoover and Hurricane Katrina

Lyndon Johnson's response to Hurricane Betsy, the subject on September 11, 1965, of two New York Times stories and more recently the focus of a "Letter from Louisiana" in the New Yorker by its editor, David Remnick, and a New York Times op-ed by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, is still seen by many as the best historical example of how the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina should be judged. It is a comforting thought for Bush critics. But there is another historical example, more in tune with the current political atmosphere, that we also need to consider. It is the reaction of the Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover administrations to the great Mississippi River flood of 1927.