The Past Repeating Itself: What is the common denominator?

The recent controversies surrounding Russia and its possible assistance helping President Trump claim an electoral college victory last November will only gain renewed and, hopefully, serious attention now that Michael Flynn has resigned as the National Security Adviser. Hopefully, both political parties will put aside partisan bickering and launch investigations to get to the bottom of this important matter.

Unfortunately, the recent events have similarities to a couple of  Presidential Elections over the last 50 years. Readers should decide what the common denominator is from all these events. Please read below and come to your conclusions.

1968: Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey are locked in a tight Presidential Race. With George Wallace as a third party candidate and the Vietnam War still raging, Nixon looked like a sure winner. However, Humphrey, after breaking with the Administration over Vietnam, staged a dramatic comeback and seemed poised for a possible upset. However, Nixon and his allies made a deal with the South Vietnamese Government to not cooperate with the Johnson Administration on a peace deal with the North. With no peace deal, Nixon won a close election. What do you call it when someone outside the government in power makes a separate deal with another nation that would not benefit the country. I think the word starts with a t.

1980: President Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. The main issue going against Carter was the ongoing Iranian Hostage Crisis which made the President look weak for his inability to free them. Fearing an "October Surprise," rumors spread that Reagan allies met with Iranian go-betweens in Europe asking them to stall the release of the hostages so Carter would not use that momentum to achieve reelection. Unfortunately, the hostages would not be released until after Reagan was sworn in. I think the t word applies here if these rumors turn out to be true.

So President Trump is not the first Republican Presidential candidate to employ questionable (potentially treasonus) tactics in trying to achieve victory.