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The first general election presidential debate was 1960 United States presidential debates, held on September 26, 1960, between Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee, at CBS 's WBBM-TV in Chicago. It was moderated by Howard K. Smith and included a panel composed of Sander ...
- The history of presidential debates is surprisingly short. In the early years of the United States, presidential candidates considered it unseemly to campaign, let alone debate their opponents.
- The first presidential debates required an act of Congress. The Communications Act of 1934 required that American broadcasters offer all candidates for public office—not just those from the major parties—equal time on air.
- At one presidential debate, the candidates were separated by nearly 3,000 miles. When Kennedy and Nixon appeared for their third debate of the 1960 campaign, they didn’t share the same time zone, let alone the same stage.
- During one debate, the candidates stood silently for nearly half an hour. With just nine minutes remaining in the first debate between President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter on September 23, 1976, the audio suddenly failed.
Aug 19, 2024 · The first debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled for Sept. 10, 2024, at the National Constitution Center and is sponsored by ABC News. Also, the vice presidential candidates, JD Vance and Tim Walz, are scheduled to debate on CBS in New York City on Oct. 1, 2024. Other debates could be scheduled during the election cycle.
- Senatorial Debate Between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas
- Debate-Free Presidential Campaigns Preside
- Radio Broadcast of Republican Primary Debate
- First Televised Debate with All Candidates
- First Televised Presidential Debate For The Two Nominees
- The Famous Kennedy-Nixon Televised Debates
- Lyndon Johnson Refuses to Debate
- Nixon Won't Debate
- Nixon Overrides Repeal of The Equal-Time Rule in Elections
- Nixon Refuses Another Debate
Presidential debates in the United States were inspired by a famous Illinois senatorial debate in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and incumbent Stephen Douglas that was held without a moderator or panel. As Douglas campaigned around Illinois, Lincoln attended his opponent's campaign speeches and heckled Douglas from the crowd. Lincoln's antics drummed...
More than a dozen election cycles passed without significant debates between candidates. Instead, presidential hopefuls responded to each other's comments during speeches along the campaign trail.
Republicans Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen participated in a presidential primary debate broadcast by radio. During the debate, the men traded barbs over the legal status of the Communist Party of the United States.
The League of Women voters in 1952 hosted the first televised presidential debate in U.S. history for a nationwide audience. Every major candidate from both parties attended, standing in stark contrast to today's debates that include just the nominated candidate from each party.
Democrat Adlai Stevenson challenged incumbent Republican President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, but the debate for that election didn't include either of them. Surrogates former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and senior Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith debated on behalf of the Democrat and Republican, respectively.
Despite two other presidential debates being aired on TV in 1952 and 1956, the debates between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon in 1960 are widely remembered as the first televised presidential debates. Because of this series, debating was eventually seen as the norm in campaigns and became an integral element to running for...
Despite the popularity of the Kennedy-Nixon debates, President Lyndon B. Johnson turned down requests to debate the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. In so doing, Johnson touched off a 16-year period of no presidential debate series being held.
Following President Johnson's lead, Richard Nixon turned down the debate stage in 1968. He defeated Hubert Humphrey, the incumbent Democratic vice president, in the election. He'd repeat the move of refusing the debate in 1972 as well.
President Nixon in 1970 overrode a bill that had repealed the equal-time rule of the Communications Act of 1934. The law mandated that national level candidates be granted equal exposure in the media. In his actions, Nixon ensured that candidates could hobble their opponents by turning down the opportunity to debate.
President Richard Nixon refused to debate his political opponent again in 1972. The incumbent coasted into reelection, defeating Democratic U.S. Sen. George McGovern.
Jun 24, 2024 · Still, debates didn't really catch on. Even after the first televised debate (featuring all of the potential candidates) in 1952, hosted by the League of Women Voters (LWV), an organization that would play an enormous role in shaping presidential debates in the U. S., debates still remained peripheral to the process of selecting a president.
Sep 18, 2008 · September 18, 2008 12:00 AM EDT. W hen network executives began organizing the nation’s first-ever televised presidential debate in 1960, a pre-debate debate between Richard Nixon and John F ...
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May 15, 2024 · The decisions by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday to agree to two presidential debates will ensure the continuation of a tradition that dates back to 1960.
