The Kennedy-Nixon Debates
On this day September 26th in 1960, 50 years ago today, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon participated in the first televised presidential debate. They two men met in a studio in Chicago in what many consider to be the key turning point of the campaign.
These were the first presidential debates held on television. They attracted enormous publicity. Nixon insisted on campaigning until just a few hours before the first debate started. He had not completely recovered from his hospital stay for an infected knee, injured during an earlier campaign stop in North Carolina. He looked pale, sickly, underweight, and tired. He also refused makeup for the first debate, and as a result his beard stubble showed prominently on the era's black-and-white TV screens. Nixon's mother called him immediately following the debate to ask if he was sick.
Kennedy, by contrast, rested before the first debate and appeared tanned, confident, and relaxed during the debate. An estimated 80 million viewers watched the first debate. Most people who watched the debate on TV believed Kennedy had won, while radio listeners (a smaller audience) believed Nixon had won.
After the debate ended, polls showed Kennedy moving from a slight deficit into a slight lead over Nixon. For the remaining three debates Nixon regained his lost weight, wore television makeup, and appeared more forceful than his initial appearance. However, up to 20 million fewer viewers watched the three remaining debates than the first debate. Political observers at the time believed that Kennedy won the first debate, Nixon won the second and third debates, and that the fourth debate, which was seen as the strongest performance by both men, was a draw.
Kennedy won the election, receiving 303 electoral votes, to 219 for Kennedy and 15 for third party candidate Harry Byrd. The popular vote was much closer with Kennedy receiving 34,220,984 votes to 34,108,157. The Nixon camp accused the Kennedy camp of voter fraud in Illinois and Texas.
These were the first presidential debates held on television. They attracted enormous publicity. Nixon insisted on campaigning until just a few hours before the first debate started. He had not completely recovered from his hospital stay for an infected knee, injured during an earlier campaign stop in North Carolina. He looked pale, sickly, underweight, and tired. He also refused makeup for the first debate, and as a result his beard stubble showed prominently on the era's black-and-white TV screens. Nixon's mother called him immediately following the debate to ask if he was sick.
Kennedy, by contrast, rested before the first debate and appeared tanned, confident, and relaxed during the debate. An estimated 80 million viewers watched the first debate. Most people who watched the debate on TV believed Kennedy had won, while radio listeners (a smaller audience) believed Nixon had won.
After the debate ended, polls showed Kennedy moving from a slight deficit into a slight lead over Nixon. For the remaining three debates Nixon regained his lost weight, wore television makeup, and appeared more forceful than his initial appearance. However, up to 20 million fewer viewers watched the three remaining debates than the first debate. Political observers at the time believed that Kennedy won the first debate, Nixon won the second and third debates, and that the fourth debate, which was seen as the strongest performance by both men, was a draw.
Kennedy won the election, receiving 303 electoral votes, to 219 for Kennedy and 15 for third party candidate Harry Byrd. The popular vote was much closer with Kennedy receiving 34,220,984 votes to 34,108,157. The Nixon camp accused the Kennedy camp of voter fraud in Illinois and Texas.