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When John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon engaged in the third of their four nationally televised presidential debates on October 13, 1960, the seventh game of the World Series had been played earlier in the day.
And for this third debate, Kennedy and Nixon actually agreed to be in separate studios 3,000 miles apart – Kennedy in New York and Nixon in Los Angeles (President Trump declined a similar arrangement, at the following her diagnosis of covid-19, for debate once scheduled for October 15)
In 1960, a televised presidential debate, broadcast from coast to coast, was unprecedented During the 1950s, more and more Americans bought televisions By 1960, just about everyone in had a So that was an idea that seemed to make sense
Jerry Shuster, professor of communications at the University of Pittsburgh and expert on presidential rhetoric, notes that Kennedy’s idea was to hold televised debates with Nixon
“The (Kennedy campaign) was surprised that the Nixon group accepted the (televised) debate,” said Shuster “Everyone was used to radio and the radio debates had gone very well since the 1920s But they decided this was the way to go – using the new medium »
“The physical appearance of the first-time candidates really made a strong impression,” said Kristen Coopie, director of pre-law at Duquesne University “This is one of the first instances where the physical appearance and aesthetics of a candidate are really put forward in the mind of the voter »
As for style points 60 years ago, Kennedy won easily For the first debate, in September On January 26, 1960, he showed up tanned and wore a dark suit that contrasted sharply with the background gray from the set Nixon had been ill and hospitalized He showed up wearing a gray suit that blended into the background and refused to wear makeup to hide his five o’clock shadow
« Just the physical appearance of the two, the contrast was unreal Kennedy was attractive and that made a huge difference, » said Shuster
But it wasn’t just the fact that Kennedy was good looking that made him successful in a TV debate
« Kennedy had learned skills using the medium His film mates gave him lots of tips on how to play on the camera and focus on the camera that had the red light (the live camera) » said Shuster « If you look at the tapes of the debate you see how effective his eye contact was. He was talking to me when he answered questions He was not talking to Dick Nixon »
Of those who watched the debate, Kennedy became the apparent winner Many who listened to the debate on the radio or read it in the newspaper came away with a different impression
“People who watched the debate on television came back thinking that Kennedy had won, mainly on the basis of his performance,” Coopie said. “But if you ask the voters who listened to the debate’s dialogue at the radio or read about it, they basically thought that Nixon performed better »
The positive impression viewers began to make of Kennedy in this first televised debate is credited with tilting the 1960 election in favor of the Democrats On a larger scale, however, this early debate changed the way the political game is played, especially for presidential candidates.
“It was really interesting to see the dichotomy in the reviews,” Coopie said “It got the campaigns to think it’s not just about what you say, it’s how you say it. say, this is what you look like when you say it, this is how you act when you say it »
The audience didn’t pay as much attention to the three debates that followed the first one, according to Coopie « This is the first one we remember and think about, » she says
« At this point, television is only changing American culture as a whole, » said Andrew Conte, director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University « You look at what (famous media theorist) Marshall McLuhan was talking about at the time, with the idea that ‘the medium is the message. His whole argument was that television was becoming so ubiquitous in American homes. As commonplace as it is to us today to think about it, it was really revolutionary at the time »
As people embraced television as a way to get news and learn about the world in the 60s and 70s, televised presidential debates are gone as quickly as they appeared 60 years ago None took place between 1960 and 1976, when President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter engaged in a series of them.
« I think Kennedy’s success and Nixon’s failure on television allowed the dominant attitude to be ‘I don’t understand this’, » said Shuster. « Think who the candidates during this time – Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern Would you like to face some of them, if you did not have the finesse and skill to debate this medium? »
The campaigns, although quickly realized, televised debates had to be organized, whether the candidates like them or not
In the mid-1970s, « they finally concluded that television was so much a part of our culture and our lives that we have to do it on television, » Shuster said.
Televised debates have been held between presidential candidates every four years for 44 years and Americans probably can’t imagine a presidential race without them But in the age of social media, are debates still important in helping voters decide? The first debate between Trump and Biden, on September 29, was considered a failure to be a shouting match
“There is an erosion of political civility, not only on a debate stage but, as we see, across the country, in public and in the electorate too,” Coopie said “But the public likes seeing candidates This is one of the perks of the internet, streaming services and Twitter, having access to what candidates have to say So what better way to do that than to put both candidates on stage and let them exchange ideas and see how they act under pressure?
Conte said televised presidential debates remain extremely relevant due to the American public’s need to rank candidates
« People want to see, if only for a few minutes, what the candidates look like in relation to each other, how they interact with each other, how they resist that kind of pressure, » said he said « Think back to 2016 One of the images people remember is the way Donald Trump walked behind Hillary Clinton in a way some people saw as threatening or threatening
« This visual spectacle remains a vital touchstone for presidential races and will continue to be so until the next iteration of the debates with probably more of an interactive social media-like vibe, especially when we start to find candidates who are younger Then I think we will see the format of the debate evolve again »
Paul Guggenheimer is an editor of Tribune-Review You can contact Paul at 724-226-7706 or pguggenheimer @ triblivecom
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