2. Ford Stumbles
In 1976, Jimmy Carter was the general election opponent of incumbent President Gerald Ford, who had taken office two years earlier when Richard Nixon resigned. On October 6, Ford said that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.” Whether he was ignorant or simply mistaken is unclear, but it’s believed that this statement crippled his chances of winning. Sure enough, Carter went on to narrowly win the election and occupy the White House for the next four years.
