History Lesson: Past Debates

Fall 2000 -- — Although they were established just 40 years ago, presidential debates are now a major feature of the election season. Take a look back at the highlights (and lowlights) of every presidential and vice-presidential debate since 1960.

1960 Election

Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy challenged Republican Vice President Richard Nixon, who was leading the polls, to a series of debates. The four, one-hour debates were the first ever presidential debates. The famed 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas occurred during the Illinois senatorial campaign.

In an echo of this year’s rhetoric, in one of the debates against Kennedy, Nixon said he was “very proud that President Eisenhower restored dignity and decency and frankly good language to the conduct of the presidency of the United States.”

September 26, 1960

Who: Sen. John F. Kennedy, Democrat and Vice President Richard M. Nixon, RepublicanWhere: Chicago, Ill.Moderator: Howard Smith as moderator, plus a panel including Sander Vanocur, Charles Warren, Stuart Novins and Bob Fleming.Format: 8-minute opening statements; 2 ½-minute responses; optional rebuttal; 3-minute closing statements.Broadcaster: NetworksRating: 77 million viewers (60 percent of all households) In the first debate, Nixon learned the hard way about the importance of how one looks on television. His haggard appearance, compared to the telegenic Kennedy’s, caused some callers — including his own mother — to inquire about his health. However, the oft-cited “fact” that those who listened to the debate over radio rated Nixon the winner, while TV viewers rated Kennedy the winner, is based on “thin” evidence that’s still debated by scholars.

October 7, 1960

Who: Kennedy and NixonWhere: Washington, D.C.Moderator: Frank McGee as moderator, plus a panel including Paul Niven, Edward Morgan, Alvin Spivak and Harold Levy.Format: No opening statements; each candidate questioned; optional rebuttalBroadcaster: NetworksRating: 61.9 million viewers

October 13, 1960

Who: Kennedy and NixonWhere: Nixon in Hollywood, Calif., and Kennedy in New York CityModerator: Bill Shadel as moderator, plus a panel including Frank McGee, Charles Van Fremd, Douglass Carter and Roscoe Drummond.Format: No opening statements; 2 ½-minute responses; 1 ½-minute rebuttals; no closing statements.Broadcaster: NetworksRatings: 63.7 million viewers

October 21, 1960

Who: Kennedy and NixonWhere: New York CityModerator: Quincy Howe as moderator, plus a panel including Frank Singiser, John Edwards, Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor.Format: 8-minute opening statements; 2 ½-minute responses; 1 ½-minute rebuttals; 3-minute closing statements.Broadcaster: NetworksRatings: 61 percent of households. This debate focused exclusively on foreign policy.

1976 Elections

(No presidential debates in 1964, 1968, or 1972)

The 1976 debates were the first televised debates to feature an incumbent president, President Ford. The debates between Republican Gerald Ford and Democrat Jimmy Carter were seen by more people than the 1960 debates. Seven in 10 adults tuned in to the first two debates of 1976 and six in 10 adults watched the third.

September 23, 1976

Who: President Gerald Ford, a Republican, and Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.Where: Philadelphia, Pa.Moderator: Edwin Newman as moderator, plus a panel including Frank Reynolds, James Gannon and Elizabeth Drew.Format: No opening statements; 3-minute responses; 2-minute rebuttals; 3-minute closing statements.Sponsor/Broadcasters: League of Women Voters (LWV); NetworksRatings: 69.7 million viewers

The topic of the first debate was “Domestic Issues and Economic Policy.” The debate is best remembered for its mysterious loss of the audio signal with nine minutes remaining. That technical failure caused a 28-minute delay in the debate and an awkward silence between the two candidates as millions watched on TV.

October 6, 1976

Who: Ford and CarterWhere: San Francisco, Calif.Moderator: Pauline Frederick as moderator, plus a panel including Max Frankel, Henry Trewitt, and Richard Valeriani.Format: No opening statements; 3-minutes responses; 2-minute rebuttals; 3-minute closing statements.Sponsor/Broadcasters: LWV; NetworksRatings: 63.9 million viewers The second debate focused on “Foreign Policy and Defense.” The big moment of this debate was Ford’s assertion that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.” This major blunder by Ford halted his momentum in the campaign just as he was catching up to Carter. Pollster George H. Gallup, Jr., claimed this was the “decisive event” which caused the sitting president to lose the election. Although surveys taken immediately after the debate showed voters believed Ford had won the event by almost a 2-1 margin, once the media disseminated the news that Ford’s Eastern Europe statement was wrong, public opinion reversed almost immediately.

October 15, 1976

Who: Vice-Presidential Debate — Republican candidate Robert J. Dole and Democratic candidate Walter Mondale. Where: Houston, TexasModerator: James Hoge as moderator, plus a panel including Hal Bruno, Marilyn Berger, and Walter Mears.Format: 2-minute opening statements; 2 ½-minute responses; 2 ½-minute rebuttals; 3-minute closing statements.Sponsor/Broadcasters: LWV; NetworksRatings: 43.2 million viewers