October Surprise

By lukejeffreys21

  • A Forged Letter Almost Becomes Garfield’s ‘Death Warrant’

    A Forged Letter Almost Becomes Garfield’s ‘Death Warrant’
    A forged letter showing Garfield supporting unrestricted Chinese immigration was released which caused him to barely win the popular vote by 0.02%

  • FDR Almost Loses the Black Vote (1940)

    FDR Almost Loses the Black Vote (1940)
    A press aid for FDR kneed a black police officer in the crotch after a Madison Square Garden event that the president had attended. This caused FDR to lose a small percent of black votes.

  • Kissinger Prematurely Announces ‘Peace’ in Vietnam (1972)

    Kissinger Prematurely Announces ‘Peace’ in Vietnam (1972)
    Kissinger (Nixons national security advisor) announced that there was peace at hand in Vietnam. This was a lie, but it heavily increased the public's view on how Nixon was handling the Vietnam war, which led to him winning by a landslide.

  • Reagan Campaign Coins the Term ‘October Surprise’ (1980)

    Reagan Campaign Coins the Term ‘October Surprise’ (1980)
    Reagan believed that Carter was waiting until a few days before the election to announce a major overseas event which would be the hostages in Iran being released. The hostages were not released before the election and Reagan won the election.

  • Iran-Contra Indictment Is Bad News for George H.W. Bush (1992)

    Iran-Contra Indictment Is Bad News for George H.W. Bush (1992)
    Caspar Weinberger who served as the Secretary of Defense under Reagan was indicted for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. This caused issues for Bush as he had been Reagan's Vice President and this indictment indicated that Reagan and his cabinet were more involved in the Iran-Contra Affair than previously known. Bush lost the election to Clinton, and pardoned Weinberger before leaving office.

  • A DUI Almost Derails George W. Bush (2000)

    A DUI Almost Derails George W. Bush (2000)
    Days before Election Day Fox news released a story which revealed that in 1976 Bush was arrested for drunk driving after a long night of partying in Maine. This furthered the idea that the young Bush was not fit for office. This revelation may have resulted in Gore winning the popular vote, but losing the election after the Supreme Court ordered Florida to stop counting votes (worrying considering that the governor of Florida at the time was Jeb Bush)

  • FBI Reopens Probe into Clinton’s Emails (2016)

    FBI Reopens Probe into Clinton’s Emails (2016)
    The FBI announced they were reopening an investigation into the Clinton's private email server. An issue that was being used as republicans for the entire year to show Hillary as unfit for office. This likely caused Hillary to lose the election, but she had won the popular vote.