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1960 United States presidential debates

September 26, 1960 October 7, 1960 October 13, 1960 October 21, 1960 1976 →

Nominee Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy Party Republican Democratic Home state California Massachusetts

The1960 United States presidential debates were a series ofdebates held during the1960 presidential election.

Four presidential debates were held betweenRepublican nomineeRichard Nixon andDemocratic nomineeJohn F. Kennedy. All four presidential debates were the first series of debates conducted for any US presidential election.^[1] The next presidential debate did not occur until 1976, after which debates would become a regular feature of all presidential campaigns.

In 1960, theRepublican Party nominated the incumbent vice presidentRichard Nixon as their presidential nominee, withHenry Cabot Lodge Jr., theUnited States ambassador to the United Nations, as his running mate.^[2]John F. Kennedy, a senator from Massachusetts, was nominated by theDemocratic Party as their presidential nominee.^[3] He chose the Senate Democratic leaderLyndon B. Johnson as his running mate.^[3] Most polls after theparty conventions showed theNixon–Lodge ticket having a six point lead over theKennedy–Johnson ticket.^[4]

First presidential debate
Date(s)	September 26, 1960 (1960-09-26)
Duration	60 minutes
Venue	WBBM-TV studios
Location	Chicago,Illinois
Participants	Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy
Moderator(s)	Howard K. Smith ofCBS
Transcript	September 26, 1960 Debate transcript

The first presidential debate between Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and SenatorJohn F. Kennedy took place on Monday, September 26, 1960, at theWBBM-TV studios in Chicago, Illinois. The debate was moderated byHoward K. Smith ofCBS withSander Vanocur, Charles Warren,Stuart Novins and Bob Fleming as panelists. Questions were restricted to internal or domestic American matters. The format decided was:

• Eight minute opening statements
• Two and a half minute responses to questions
• Optional rebuttal
• three minute closing statements.

Nixon refused make-up for the first debate, subsequently his facial stubble showed prominently on black-and-white television screens. During the debate, Nixon started sweating under the studio lights. His light gray suit faded into the backdrop of the set and seemed to match his skin tone. Reacting to this, his mother immediately called him and asked whether he was sick.Chicago MayorRichard J. Daley in an interview said:

My God, they’ve embalmed him before he even died.^[9]

Nixon blamed his poor performance on hitting his knee on a car door inGreensboro, North Carolina, after which he had to be hospitalized for astaph infection.^[10]

Second presidential debate
Date(s)	October 7, 1960 (1960-10-07)
Duration	60 minutes
Venue	WRC-TV studios
Location	Washington, D.C.
Participants	Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy
Moderator(s)	Frank McGee ofNBC
Transcript	October 7, 1960 Debate transcript

The second presidential debate between Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and SenatorJohn F. Kennedy took place on Friday, October 7, 1960, at theWRC-TV studios in Washington, D.C. The debate was moderated byFrank McGee ofNBC with Paul Niven,Edward P. Morgan, Alvin Spivak and Harold R. Levy as panelists. Questions were related to internal American matters, foreign relations, economy, etc. The format decided was:

• No opening or closing statements
• Each questioned in turn with optional rebuttal

The third presidential debate between Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and SenatorJohn F. Kennedy took place on Thursday, October 13, 1960, were held virtually at theABC studios in Los Angeles, California (for Nixon) and New York City, New York (for Kennedy). The debate was moderated byBill Shadel ofABC withFrank McGee, Charles Van Fremd,Douglass Cater andRoscoe Drummond as panelists. To ensure fairness, the journalists (who were in Los Angeles) and Nixon were placed in separate studios. All participants addressed the camera directly, with Kennedy and Nixon both situated without aides in studios that Shadel described as "identical in every detail." A major topic of the debate was whether military force should be used to preventQuemoy andMatsu, two island archipelagos off the Chinese coast, from falling under Communist control, as had seemed possible during the1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis.^[11] The format decided was:

• No opening or closing statements
• Each questioned in turn with two and a half minutes to answer
• One and a half minute rebuttals optional

This debate was considered a "monumental step for television".

Fourth presidential debate
Date(s)	October 21, 1960 (1960-10-21)
Duration	60 minutes
Venue	ABC studios
Location	New York City, New York
Participants	Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy
Moderator(s)	Quincy Howe ofABC
Transcript	October 21, 1960 Debate transcript

The fourth and final presidential debate between Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and SenatorJohn F. Kennedy took place on Friday, October 21, 1960, at theABC studios in New York City, New York. The debate was moderated byQuincy Howe ofABC with Frank Singiser, John Edwards,Walter Cronkite andJohn Chancellor as panelists. Questions were related to Foreign affairs. The format decided was:

• Eight minute opening statements
• Each questioned in turn with two and a half minutes to answer
• One and a half minute rebuttal
• Three minute closing statements.

• Richard Nixon 1960 presidential campaign
• John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign
• 1960 United States presidential election

Books

• Donaldson, Gary (2007).The First Modern Campaign – Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN 9780742547995.LCCN 2007004168.OL 22757375M.
• Pietrusza, David (2008).1960 – LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon – The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies. Union Square Press.ISBN 9781402761140.OL 20964234M.

Other sources

• "1960 Debates".Commission on Presidential Debates. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
• "September 26, 1960 Debate Transcript".Commission on Presidential Debates. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
• "October 7, 1960 Debate Transcript".Commission on Presidential Debates. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
• "October 13, 1960 Debate Transcript".Commission on Presidential Debates. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
• "October 21, 1960 Debate Transcript".Commission on Presidential Debates. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.
• Shafer, Ronald G. (October 15, 2020)."Trump refused to debate virtually. But Nixon did and got the best of JFK".The Washington Post. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2021.

• 1960 speeches
• September 1960 in the United States
• October 1960 in the United States
• Speeches by John F. Kennedy
• Speeches by Richard Nixon
• United States presidential debates
• 1960 United States presidential election
• 1960 in American television
• 1960 in radio
• Simulcasts

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