Political debates have a surprisingly short history, yet they play an important role in the government sector. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to look at the history of presidential debates and highlight some of the more surprising moments from these live events.
Presidential Debates Were Not Always Public
While debates have mostly taken place in a public space, they were not always accessible to a national audience. Newspapers reported on the events, but coverage was scattered and received days or even weeks after the event.
The advent of radio made it possible to broadcast live debates, but even then, it was not a regular practice. In fact, the debates of 1948 and 1956 were the only public debates among presidential candidates before 1960. The debates in the 1960 election cycle, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, were the first televised debates and are credited as giving Kennedy a huge advantage due to his telegenic persona. Despite the power of televised debates being realized in 1960, they did not become consistently broadcast until 1976.
Single Issue Presidential Debates
The 1948 debate between Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen, both running for the Republican nomination, was the first and only debate limited to a single issue. At this debate, the candidates discussed "outlawing the Communist Party in the U.S." exclusively.
Little Things Matter
As all event planners know, the devil is in the details. Presidential candidates have learned this lesson the hard way. While Kennedy showed up to the first televised debate "camera ready," Nixon's natural look washed him out, making him look older and tired in the bright camera lights.
In a three-way debate in 1993, President George H.W. Bush appeared to look at his watch while being asked a question by an audience member about the national debt. This one action led to people feeling like the President was checked out and/or did not care for interacting with the citizens he served. In contrast, Al Gore was seen as being almost too engaged as the cameras and microphones caught heavy sighs and eye rolls as George W. Bush was speaking.
The Show Must Go On
The September 23, 1976, debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter featured 27 minutes of silence. As the debate neared its conclusion, the audio failed. Viewers watched as audio engineers worked to fix the technical issue. The candidates were left standing at attention, waiting for their mics to go live.
As the highly unique 2024 presidential campaign rolls on, we're interested to see what new events will be added to the history of presidential debates.
