In 1956, Pres Eisenhower was comfortably campaigning for reelection when Hungary exploded:
"Thousands of Hungarians erupt in protest against the Soviet presence in their nation and are met with armed resistance. Organized demonstrations by Hungarian citizens had been ongoing since June 1956, when signs of political reform in Poland raised the possibility for such changes taking place in their own nation. On October 23, however, the protests erupted into violence as students, workers, and even some soldiers demanded more democracy and freedom from what they viewed as an oppressive Soviet presence in Hungary."
Eventually, the Soviet tanks and rebellion was crushed.
In 1983, Pres Reagan was getting ready for reelection and talking about the economic recovery underway. However, he had to deal with a major terrorist attack in Beirut:
"On this day, a suicide bomber drives a truck filled with 2,000 pounds of explosives into a U.S. Marine Corps barracks at the Beirut International Airport. The explosion killed 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers. A few minutes after that bomb went off, a second bomber drove into the basement of the nearby French paratroopers' barracks, killing 58 more people. Four months after the bombing, American forces left Lebanon without retaliating."
It was a terrible week for Pres Reagan and one of the early signs of terrorism.
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