Milestones
First Televised Presidential Debate
Also Known As Kennedy-Nixon Debate
Television
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
On 26 September 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met at WBBM-TV in Chicago for the first of four debates, and the first US presidential debate ever broadcast on television. Radio listeners tended to judge the exchange a draw or a Nixon win, while television viewers, who saw Nixon pale, underweight from a hospital stay, sweating under the studio lights and refusing makeup beside a composed Kennedy, judged decisively for Kennedy, a gap historians still cite as proof of television's power over image.
Facts
Milestone Year When26 September 1960, moderated by Howard K. Smith of CBS, with questions restricted to internal or domestic American matters. 1 LocationWBBM-TV, Chicago, Illinois, United States 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationChicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, quoted in Reaction sectionQuote, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, quoted in Reaction section
My God, they've embalmed him before he even died.
View the Source 1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationModerator and scope sectionQuote, Moderator and scope section
internal or domestic American matters
View the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.