Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
What Is an October Surprise?
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
A blindfolded and bound hostage is escorted by four men outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis, November 9, 1979. Portrait of Warren G. Harding, 29th president of the United States, wearing a suit and bow tie, looking directly at the camera. U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks at a White House press conference about the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, gesturing with both hands raised behind a podium with the presidential seal. Hand holding a phone displaying a 2016 Washington Post article titled "Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005," with a photo of Donald Trump, Billy Bush, and a woman. Joe Biden and Donald Trump stand at podiums on stage during the CNN Presidential Debate in June 2024, with a blue and red debate backdrop behind them.
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
A blindfolded and bound hostage is escorted by four men outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis, November 9, 1979.
Held hostage One of the hostages held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran being displayed, blindfolded and with his hands bound, to the crowd outside, November 9, 1979. Fifty-two of the hostages endured 444 days of captivity.

What Is an October Surprise?

And can a bombshell dropped in the final days of a campaign really swing an election?
Written by
Tracy Grant
Tracy Grant is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. She previously served as editor in chief, the first woman to hold that title. 
Tracy Grant
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

In the waning days of the 1980 presidential campaign between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan, the polls showed a close race. Carter had been weakened by the Iran hostage crisis, which had riveted the country for the previous year, but the Reagan campaign worried that if Carter secured a hostage release just before voters headed to the polls, the election would be his. Reagan campaign manager William Casey had coined the term...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content
Explore Subscriptions
DNA
Right
Mobile