See the article in its original context from October 27, 1972 Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. WASHINGTON, Oct. 26—Henry A. Kissinger said today that “peace is at hand” in Indochina and that a final agreement on a cease‐fire and political arrangement could be reached in one more negotiating session with the North Vietnamese “lasting not more than three or four days.” The remaining details, he said, would not halt the rapid movement toward an end to the war. “We must remember that, having … [Read more...] about NEW TALK NEEDED
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October Surprises Don’t Necessarily Sway Elections, or Occur in October
In a breathless month with a decade’s worth of political bombshells, the phrase “October surprise” has become a regular part of the news lexicon. By the strictest definition, an October surprise is news specifically (and cynically) timed by one side or another to sway an election, with evidence that it changed voters’ minds and moved the polls. More loosely, the term is applied to any big, late development, deliberate or not, perhaps even ones that show no sign of altering the outcome. Some reference sources say the phrase was first used in the 1972 presidential election, while others trace it to the 1980 campaign (the first time it was used by The New York Times). The concept, of course, predates the wording. Here are some examples of what could be considered October surprises. OCT. 31, 1968 President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced a halt to bombing of North Vietnam, based on his claim that peace talks had “entered a new and a very much more hopeful phase,” and he invited … [Read more...] about October Surprises Don’t Necessarily Sway Elections, or Occur in October
Donald Trump, and the Sordid Tradition of Suppressing October Surprises
Secretive talks in the waning days of a campaign. Furtive phone calls. Ardent public denials. American history is full of October surprises — late revelations, sometimes engineered by an opponent, that shock the trajectory of a presidential election and that candidates dread. In 1880, a forged letter ostensibly written by James A. Garfield claimed he wanted more immigration from China, a position so unpopular it nearly cost him the election. Weeks before the 1940 election, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s press secretary kneed a Black police officer in the groin, just as the president was trying to woo skeptical Black voters. (Roosevelt’s response made history: He appointed the first Black general and created the Tuskegee Airmen.) But the scandal that has ensnared Donald J. Trump, the paying of hush money to a pornographic film star in 2016 , is in a rare class: an attempt not to bring to light an election-altering event, but to suppress one. The payoff to Stormy Daniels that has a … [Read more...] about Donald Trump, and the Sordid Tradition of Suppressing October Surprises