When was the first presidential debate?

Debates for American presidential elections haven’t been around as long you probably think. Mr. Beat explains.

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The first GENERAL election presidential debate wasn’t until September 26, 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It aired live on CBS. They’d go on to have three more debates…all televised. Many historians say that, if it weren’t for those debates, Kennedy would have LOST that election.

[iammrbeat]

It was only exactly 63 years ago today that the first general election American presidential debate took place, and JFK shook things up so much that for 16 years no general debates took place after his presidential run. Isn't American history crazy?

[spoofy]

Personally, I think JFK’s expressed fondness for Duff Beer helped him a lot during their first debate. While Nixon clearly never had a Duff in his life

[AlexDorsch]

I wish these debates existed back then. I wonder what the Thomas Jefferson-John Adams debate would have been like.

[PoppinStart]

Just imagine how different some of the presidential elections would be without these debates

[JJMcCullough]

Was anyone against the debate in 1960?

[MrAlegeniale]

In countries like Argentina they have the "Presidential Debate Law", where all candidates for the general election need to participate in a debate (even those polling at 1%) or else their name will be removed from the ballot.

[jacobprice]

I love that you took the time to put a George Washington Vs George Washington graphic in there. LMAO

[LovleyLemonade]

My favorite presidential debate from those old times would have been George Washington debating George Washington on who makes a better first president.

[justisolated]

Interesting Fact: Lyndon Johnson is the only president since 1960 to have never debated

[angieortega]

I love how JFK was perceived to be the winner of the first debate by those who saw him on TV as opposed to those on radio, majorly because of Nixons appearance

[officiallyunofficial]

While it was for the Illinois Senate seat, the Lincoln-Douglas debates deserve a shout out.

Were debates more common for state held seats before the 1960s simply due to what was needed to communicate a debate to audiences such as newspapers communicating the Lincoln Douglas debates?

[AdamGianforte]

I hadn't realized until now that the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates were for a senate seat, not prez. Just looked it up. Very interesting.

[chambino]

They’re not even debates anymore. Its who can insult the most and spew headline line news slogans.

[stephenreaves]

I just hate how restrictive they are with what parties are allowed to debate

[johnchessant]

Also worth noting is that the 1948 Dewey-Stassen debate was an entire hour devoted to a single question (should the Communist Party of the United States be outlawed). I definitely think that's preferable to the current format of trying to squeeze in 10 different topics in the same time. Especially for primary debates; as an example, they covered the issue of healthcare in every debate in the 2020 Democratic primary yet we never got beyond the surface-level arguments for Medicare for all vs. public option, because they moved on to the next thing just as the discussion was heating up.

[addictionsucks]

It's actually quite soothing to go back and watch the early debates. It's a type of national pride you won't feel much of today.

[ValueNetwork]

Also the 60s isn’t actually that late compared to some counties: the UK only started televised General election debates between the major parties in 2010: and only had a 1 on 1 debate between Labour (Corbyn) and the Conservatives (Johnson) for the first time in 2019 (although TBF our electoral process isn’t for a PM, it’s for our local MP, and a MPs party leader becomes PM if their party wins)

[hakeemfullerton]

GOP Presidential candidate, Wendell Wilikie actually wanted to debate in a radio interview back in the election of 1940 but Roosevelt declined

[spynix]

Fun fact: In the debate between Nixon and Kennedy, something odd happened with people who saw the debate vs people who only listened in.

People who saw the debate said that Kennedy won.

People who listened said that Nixon won.

This means that a president's appearance is more important than their policies to the American public. That fact has stuck true for years.

[georgewashington]

1976 was also the first election where there was a vice presidential debate, between Bob Dole and Walter Mondale. There was no vice presidential debate in 1980, but there has been one for every election from 1984 onwards