A Brief History of Presidential Debates
Since it is now debate season I thought it would be neat to take a brief look at what the debate process used to look like and how it has morphed into what it is today. I hope you enjoy this short look at the history of political debates in the United States.
The First Debate
The first official political debate in the United States was not actually a presidential one, though it did involve a future president. In 1858 Abraham Lincoln was running against incumbent Stephen Douglas for one of the two Illinois senate seats. During Douglas’s campaign rallies Lincoln would often heckle him from the audience by calling him out on his political beliefs. After this happened a few times they settled on having a series of formal debates.
Lincoln/Douglas debate. Abraham Lincoln is standing and Senator Douglas is to his left. Public Domain.
They decided to have a total of seven debates, one in each of the districts that neither had already spoken in. The format for these debates was as follows: the first speaker spoke for one hour, the next for one and a half hours, the first speaker would then be given a half hour to offer a rebuttal. The topics they mostly discussed was slavery and what domestic policy would be like if slaves were to be freed. Douglas would go on to win the election, but the debates launched Lincoln forward in popularity and ultimately helped him win the presidential election of 1860.
Map of Illinois showing where Lincoln and Douglas debated, numbered in order. Courtesy of the National Parks Service.
Primaries and Firsts
There would be no more official political debates for another 90 years. In 1940 Republican presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie did challenge President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a debate, but Roosevelt refused. However the question now sparked interest within the Republican Party. During the 1948 Republican Primary candidates Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen had the first radio broadcasted debate. The topic they debated was the legality of the Communist Party, and would be the last debate where only a single topic was discussed. Dewey would go on to win the nomination but ultimately lost the election to Democratic incumbent President Harry S. Truman.
Harold Stassen (left) and Thomas Dewey (right) shaking hands during the 1948 Republican National Convention. Courtesy of AP.
In 1952 the League of Women Voters (LWV) hosted the first televised primary debate that included every major candidate from the two main parties. The first televised presidential debate took place in 1956 when Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson challenged Republican incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower to debate. However neither of them actually took part in it. Instead former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith acted as surrogates for the two respectively. Mrs. Roosevelt remained a political leader within women’s groups after her time as First Lady. Senator Smith was a well seasoned politician who had even challenged the now famous Joseph McCarthy on some of his policies. Their debate was broadcasted on the CBS program Face the Nation, it was the first time a woman appeared on the program. Opinions were mixed but it is generally agreed that Senator Smith was the winner.
Photo of Eleanor Roosevelt (left) and Sen. Margaret Chase (right) during the first televised debate. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
While neither candidate took part in the debate it gained wide media attention and set the stage for the famous 1960 debates between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon. Many saw this as the first true televised presidential debate, and caused debating to be seen as a norm within the election process. It also established their structure. Candidates were given three minute opening statements, then questions, and five minute closing statements. Certain elements did change over time, such as time limits and how questions were asked, but most debates stuck to this format.
Richard M. Nixon (left) and John F. Kennedy (right) partaking in their fourth and final debate before the election. Courtesy of the AP.
A Rocky Few Years
While the Nixon-Kennedy debates were incredibly popular the event would take another several years long hiatus. In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson turned down requests to debate Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, though he still won. Richard Nixon followed Johnson’s lead and turned down the offers to debate in both the 1968 and 1972 elections, winning both.
League of Women Voters logo. Courtesy of the League of Women Voters.
In 1975 the League of Women Voters took the official title as debate host. The following year they hosted the debate between Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican incumbent President Gerald Ford, Carter went on to win the election. In 1980 President Carter refused to take part in a three man debate between himself, Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, and Independent candidate John Anderson. They went ahead with the debate anyway with just Anderson and Reagan. Carter did participate in a debate with Reagan just a week before the election but those that watched it almost unanimously said that he was outclassed by Reagan in every way. Due in part to this Reagan won a landslide victory that year.
Before the 1984 debates the Republican and Democratic parties jointly vetoed almost 100 proposed panelists, most being journalists. Both parties drew ire from the media but neither were particularly bothered. Finally settling on panelists the debate went on between incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Democratic nominee former Vice President Walter Mondale. Being 73 at the time, Reagan was the oldest nominee either party had ever fielded and this became a major point for the Democrats to hammer at during the debate. However with the quick wit that President Reagan was known for he famously turned the issue on its head by saying, “I want you to know that also 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.” Reagan went on to secure another landslide victory, winning all but one state and Washington D.C.
President Ronald Reagan (left) debating Walter Mondale (right) in 1984. Courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Commission of Presidential Debates
In 1987 the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was founded by Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk and Republican National Committee Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf. Doing so after a 1985 study by Harvard and a 1986 study by the Twentieth Century Fund found that debates were an integral part of the election process, and recommended that a non-partisan organization be set up to host and sponsor the event. The mission statement of the new commission was: to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. Its primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. Though the commission was set up by party members they had no affiliation with those actually part of it. In order to keep the commission non-partisan they were not allowed to receive money from any political party, not allowed to lobby, and could not participate in any sort of partisan activities. It is also not funded by the federal government, instead financial support comes from private donors, corporate sponsors, and the communities where the debates are held. The commission also helped with voter education and collection of voter data based upon their reception of the debates. The CPD now also works to help emerging democracies in other countries set up elections and free debates.
Commission on Presidential Debates logo. Courtesy of the Commission on Presidential Debates.
In 1988, under the nose of the LWV, Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush and Democratic nominee Governor Michael Dukakis drafted a “memorandum of understanding.” This memorandum outlined who were allowed to be audience members and panelists, and did away with follow-up questions, putting many constraints on the LWV and taking away any say they had in the debate format. This memorandum ended up not being needed as the CPD took over as host, the paper likely being drafted in case the commission was not ready to be host for the 1988 election.
The CPD now institutionalized the debates and made sure nothing was left to chance. They selected everything from the temperature of the room to podium height, and put heavy restrictions on who could be moderator and who could ask questions. Due to this uniformity debates have stayed relatively unchanged into the present day. Though there have been some noteworthy happenings. In 1992 there were three debaters as Reform Party Candidate Ross Perot was allowed on stage with the Republican and Democratic party candidates. Throughout the debates Perot was able to jump from 7% of favorable voters to 19%, it was the largest jump in support a presidential candidate had ever seen in history. In 2000 the CPD created a new rule that required a candidate to have at least 15% polling support to be in the national debates. This rule has been controversial since its inception because many believe it does nothing but reinforce the two-party system. The rule has come under particular fire in the past two election cycles. In 2008 technology saw a big leap forward in the debates as voters were allowed to submit questions via YouTube, text message, and Twitter.
President George H. W. Bush (left) and Ross Perot (center) and then Governor Bill Clinton (right) during a debate in 1992. Courtesy of Getty Images.
The current format is a 90 minute debate that is divided into six roughly 15 minute segments. Each segment is opened up with a question by the moderator and each candidate is then given two minutes to respond. The moderator then balances the rest of the time between the two candidates for their discussion. At the time of writing this article the past few debates have not followed this structure exactly, and the Commission on Presidential Debates is considering changing up some rules.
Personal Thoughts
I thought there would be a bit more to the history of political debates in the U.S. but as you read there’s a lot of time where no debates happened. I found it interesting that Lincoln was such a “hot head” in his youth, though I’ve read that he was pretty wild before becoming president. To me the most interesting was the 1956 debate when neither candidate debated but had two prominent women in their place, that seems more of something you would’ve seen in the 1800s when candidates didn’t really travel around but relied upon their supporters to campaign for them. A first lady debate would be interesting, politically I don’t believe it would have a ton of value, but it would be interesting nonetheless.
Sources
Cover photo courtesy of ClipartKey
https://www.debates.org/about-cpd/
https://ballotpedia.org/Commission_on_Presidential_Debates
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Commission-on-Presidential-Debates
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_First_Televised_Presidential_Debate.htm
https://napavalleyregister.com/news/history-of-presidential-debates/collection_fa9c3471-0a8c-5ff8-8790-7617c8da2254.html#1
https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/debates.htm
