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1984 United States vice presidential debate | ||||||||||||||
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The1984 United States presidential debates a series ofdebates held during the1984 presidential election.
TheLeague of Women Voters organized three debates among the major party candidates, sponsored two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. Two presidential debates were held betweenRepublican nomineeRonald Reagan andDemocratic nomineeWalter Mondale. One vice presidential debate was held between their respectivevice presidentialrunning mates,George H. W. Bush andGeraldine Ferraro.
| 1984 United States presidential election debates | |||||||||||||||
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| No. | Date & Time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
| Key: P Participant. N Non-invitee. | Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
| President Ronald Reagan ofCalifornia | Vice President Walter Mondale ofMinnesota | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Sunday, October 7, 1984, 9:00 – 10:30 p.m. EDT[1] | The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts | Louisville,Kentucky | Barbara Walters ofABC | P | P | |||||||||
| 2 | Sunday, October 21, 1984, 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. EDT[1] | Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium | Kansas City,Missouri[2] | Edwin Newman ofNBC (formerly) | P | P | |||||||||
| 1984 United States vice presidential debate | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Date & Time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
| Key: P Participant. N Non-invitee. | Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
| Vice President George H. W. Bush ofTexas | Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro ofNew York | ||||||||||||||
| VP | Thursday, October 11, 1984, 9:00 – 10:30 p.m. EDT[1] | Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania | Sander Vanocur ofABC | P | P | |||||||||
| First presidential debate | |
|---|---|
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| Date(s) | October 7, 1984 (1984-10-07) |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Venue | The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts |
| Location | Louisville,Kentucky |
| Participants | Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale |
| Moderator(s) | Barbara Walters ofABC |
The first presidential debate between PresidentRonald Reagan and former Vice PresidentWalter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 7, 1984, atThe Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts inLouisville,Kentucky. The debate was moderated byBarbara Walters ofABC News and featured a panel featuringJames Wieghart ofNew York Daily News,Diane Sawyer ofCBS News, andFred Barnes ofNew Republic. The topics were economic and domestic policy issues.[3]
Despite trailing far behind Reagan in the polls leading up to the debate, Mondale exceeded expectations and emerged as the clear winner of the first debate. According to a Newsweek/Gallup poll, 54 percent of debate-watchers favored Mondale, while only 35 percent sided with Reagan. President Reagan was perceived as confused and tired during the debate, whereas Mondale demonstrated articulate communication. This praised performance briefly revitalized the Mondale campaign, narrowing Reagan's lead in the polls by seven points.[4][5]
| Vice presidential debate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date(s) | October 11, 1984 (1984-10-11) |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Venue | Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center |
| Location | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania |
| Participants | George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro |
| Moderator(s) | Sander Vanocur ofABC |
The only vice presidential debate between Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush and CongresswomanGeraldine Ferraro took place on Thursday, October 11, 1984, at the Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. The debate was moderated bySander Vanocur ofABC News and featured a panel featuring John Mashek ofU.S. News & World Report,Jack White ofTime magazine,Norma Quarles ofNBC News, andRobert Boyd ofKnight-Ridder Newspapers. The topics were domestic and foreign affairs.
The result was proclaimed mostly even by newspapers, television, other media, and historians.[6][7] Women voters tended to think Ferraro had won, while men, Bush.[8] Some media, however, either declared Bush or Ferraro the winner. The candidates were both praised for their ability to debate.
Ferraro handled a question about her experience at the debate, after being asked how her three House terms stacked up with Bush's two House terms, career as an ambassador to China and the United Nations,Director of Central Intelligence and four years as vice president. The peak of the experience battle came when, during a discussion of theCarter administration inIran and theReagan administration inLebanon, Bush said, "Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon."[9] Ferraro responded to cap whatThe New York Times termed "a bristling exchange",[9] "Let me just say first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy."[6]
| Second presidential debate | |
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| Date(s) | October 21, 1984 (1984-10-21) |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Venue | Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium |
| Location | Kansas City,Missouri |
| Participants | Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale |
| Moderator(s) | Edwin Newman ofNBC (formerly) |
The second and final presidential debate between PresidentRonald Reagan and former Vice PresidentWalter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 21, 1984, at the Music Hall, Municipal Auditors inKansas City,Missouri. The debate was moderated byEdwin Newman, formerly ofNBC News and featured a panel featuringGeorgie Anne Geyer ofUniversal Press Syndicate,Marvin Kalb of NBC News, journalistHenry Trewhitt andMorton Kondracke ofNew Republic. The topics were defense and foreign policy issues.[3]
The debate is often seen as a victory for Reagan, most famously due to the line "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," it was received with laughter from the audience, and Mondale himself. Mondale later said that it was this moment when he realized he would lose the election.[10]
42ndVice President of the United States (1977–1981) •U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1964–1976) •Attorney General of Minnesota (1960–1964) | |||||||
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