In 1867 Russia sold Alaska to America for $7.2m, around $160m in today's money, handing its future rival 1.5m square kilometres of oil-rich territory and access to the northern rim of the Pacific.
But if history is any indicator, President Joe Biden's party could lose dozens of seats in the House of Representatives and a handful in the Senate, enough to flip control of Congress for the Republican Party.
In 1707, Peter even offered to give to Charles the 12th practically everything on the Baltic Sea but St. Petersburg and the land connecting it to the rest of Russia, but Charles was block headed.
What merit do I in myself respect, That is so proud thy service to despise, When all my best doth worship thy defect, Commanded by the motion of thine eyes?
Because it had become passive, failed to raise its voice; and especially because it had handed meekly to Caesar and Sulla the power of the pursestrings.
After an agonising dispute over " hanging chads" , George W. Bush was judged to have won the state by just 537 votes, and Democrats accused Mr Nader of handing him the presidency.