“October Surprises” That Shook Up Presidential Elections

october surprise
Johnson halts Vietnam bombing (1968)
Five days before the 1968 showdown between Richard Nixon and current Vice President Hubert Humphrey, President Johnson announced that America would stop bombing in Vietnam and claimed a peace deal would soon be reached. News that the highly unpopular war was going to end sent Humphrey surging in the polls. But the surprise wasn’t enough. Nixon still won.