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A Forged Letter Almost Becomes Garfield’s ‘Death Warrant’
Garfield won the election 214 electoral votes to 155, he barely won the popular vote by .02 percentage points. Democrats printed and distributed half a million copies of the “Morey letter” in tightly contested states like California. They called it Garfield’s “death warrant.” Garfield took a moderate stance on Chinese immigration, calling for new negotiations with China and reasonable limitations on immigration that would still maintain peace. -
FDR Almost Loses the Black Vote
FDR ended up winning an unprecedented third term as president and only lost a small percentage of the Black vote. As Sloan was rushed to the hospital, Early—the descendent of a Confederate general—issued a half-hearted apology for kicking the police officer who was black. FDR shifted his focus toward addressing the needs of Black voters through New Deal programs, but faced backlash for not dealing with military segregation, the US was surprised that he had done nothing about it. -
Kissinger Prematurely Announces ‘Peace’ in Vietnam
The peace talks in Vietnam fell apart and Humphrey lost to Nixon. Democrats thought that Nixon secretly sabotaged the talks by promising the South Vietnamese stronger support if he were to be elected as president. Johnson chose not to run for reelection in 1968. He wanted to assist his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, by announcing a bombing halt in Vietnam shortly before the election. -
Reagan Campaign Coins the Term ‘October Surprise’
Election Day came and went, the hostages remained in Tehran and Reagan won handily. Time magazine reported, “[Reagan’s campaign] expects [Carter] to pull what they call ‘the October surprise,’ meaning that shortly before Election Day, he will inflate the importance of some overseas event in an attempt to rally the country around him.” Reagan campaigned on the promise to secure the release of the American hostages in Iran, emphasizing that President Carter had not resolved the crisis. -
Iran-Contra Indictment Is Bad News for George H.W. Bush
Bush lost the election to Clinton. "Weinberger was the biggest name to be charged in the case, giving credence to the idea that everyone in the Reagan administration knew about the crime, including Bush." Reagan supposedly approved illegal weapons sales to Iran to concentrate money to the Contras- the anti-socialist army in Nicaragua. -
A DUI Almost Derails George W. Bush
Bush’s “October surprise” cost him five states in the 2000 election, enough to have avoided the Florida recount altogether. Just days before Election Day‚ Fox News broke a bombshell story. Bush was not proud of his actions of drinking too much. this October surprise heavily influenced the election since the candidates were neck and neck. -
FBI Reopens Probe into Clinton’s Emails
Clinton lost the election by a narrow margin, despite winning the popular vote. the Washington Post released a 2005 video of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. On the same day, Wikileaks released transcripts of Hillary Clinton’s speeches to Wall Street donors, which painted the Democratic candidate as pro-corporate. Then The New York Times reported that Trump hadn’t paid federal taxes in 18 years. Clinton's campaign was affected by the leak of her emails.