A few facts in anticipation of Thursday’s GOP presidential debate:
Between 70 to 107 million people watched or listened to the first debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. More than 80 % of Americans listened to at least one of their four debates, either via television or radio.
In this Sept. 26, 1960 file photo, moderator Howard K. Smith sits between, Sen. John Kennedy, left, and Vice President Richard Nixon as they appear on television studio monitor set during their debate in Chicago. Chicago Sun Times, Flickr.
No national debates were held in 1964, 1968, or 1972.
In 1976, the Education Fund of the League of Women Voters sponsored three debates between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. After that election, James Karayn, who organized the 1976 debates, asked AEI to host a conference on the impact of the 1960 and 1976 debates and to propose possible formats for future ones.
In October 1977, AEI held a conference with strong academic and bipartisan participation and later published “The Past and Future of Presidential Debates,” edited by AEI’s director of Political Studies, the late Austin Ranney. Two of the book’s highlights are Dick Cheney’s discussion of President Ford’s decision to debate and a comparable account of Carter’s decision by three of his campaign’s insiders, Stephan Lesher, Patrick Caddell, and Gerald Rafshoon. One of the book’s recommendations was to establish a national commission on presidential debates.
In 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates was established after the League of Women Voters, which had sponsored the 1976, 1980, and 1984 debates, withdrew as the sponsor.
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