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Milestone

First Televised Presidential Debate

Also Known As Kennedy-Nixon Debate
Television and Cable Milestones

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
1960 1
When
26 September 1960, moderated by Howard K. Smith of CBS, with questions restricted to internal or domestic American matters. 1
Location
WBBM-TV, Chicago, Illinois, United States 1
Connections

Credited To

WBBM-TV, the Chicago site of the debate, was a CBS-owned station, and the debate was moderated by CBS newsman Howard K. Smith.

Source Wikipedia
Additional Source 1960 United States presidential debates (Wikipedia)

In Medium

Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, quoted in Reaction section
    My God, they've embalmed him before he even died.
  • Moderator and scope section
    internal or domestic American matters
View the Source
1960 United States presidential debates (Wikipedia)
Credited To: Columbia Broadcasting SystemView the Source

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