Kennedy and Nixon square off in first televised debate on this day in 1960

On this day, that is, September 26, 1960, a debate between major presidential candidates was shown on television for the first time. The debate which took American politics into people’s living room saw active participation from John F. Kennedy, a Democratic senator of Massachusetts, and Richard M. Nixon, the vice president of the United States, both of whom met in a Chicago studio to discuss U.S. domestic matters. The debate was watched by over 70 million Americans and totally altered how Presidential campaigns were conducted, as per history.com.

Congressmen Kennedy and Nixon had travelled by train from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, where they debated issues of the day at Junto, a civic club in the steel town of McKeesport. The two argued labour legislation, something that was clearly closer to blue-collar Nixon’s heart than to Ivy League Kennedy’s.  While Nixon had been President Dwight Eisenhower's vice president for eight years, Kennedy was a zealous and energetic senator who had an experience of debate.

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The first of the total four debates, that were conducted, showed Kennedy to be an absolute winner. However, Nixon, who initially seemed nervous and even had refused to wear makeup, did better than his opponent in the second and third debate. Less than three weeks later, on November 8, Kennedy surpassed Nixon by mere 0.1 votes to become the 35th president of the United States of America.

Nixon returns to politics

One year after leaving the vice presidency, Nixon returned to politics, winning the Republican nomination for governor of California and then filed his candidature for the presidential election in 1968. However, during his campaign, he refused to debate his presidential opponent. But, yet again, the trend of television presidential debates rekindled in the year 1976  and have been held ever since.

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