Home >
2nd JFK- Nixon Presidential debate in 1960....
2nd JFK- Nixon Presidential debate in 1960....
Item # 625900
Currently Unavailable. Contact us if you would like to be placed on a want list or to be notified if a similar item is available.
October 08, 1960
THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 8, 1960
* John F. Kennedy & Richard M. Nixon debate
* 2nd-ever Presidential debate w/ photos
* The complete text of the debate is given
This 48 page newspaper has a four column headline on the front page: "NIXON AND KENNEDY DEBATE CUBA, 'REGRETS' OVER U-2, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SCHOOLS IN SECOND TV CLASH", with subheads that include: "EXCHANGES SHARP", "Senator Is Accused of 'Wooly Thinking' - He Too Is Tough", and more. The frontpage photo of both Kennedy and Nixon is shown.
Considerable additional coverage is found on inside pages, with photos and the complete transcript of the debate.
The issue tells of the 2nd of four JFK & Nixon presidential debates - which were the first Presidential debates to be held (The Lincoln-Douglass debates were Senatorial debates), and therefore, the first to be televised. It is great to have this coverage in a major city newspaper.
Other news of the day. Light browning and rubbing at the mid-fold, but no loss of text. Otherwise quite good.
wikipedia notes: The key turning point of the campaign were the four Kennedy-Nixon debates; they were the first presidential debates held on television, and thus attracted enormous publicity. Nixon insisted on campaigning until just a few hours before the first debate started; he had not completely recovered from his hospital stay and thus looked pale, sickly, underweight, and tired. He also refused makeup for the first debate, and as a result his beard stubble showed prominently on the era's black-and-white TV screens. Nixon's poor appearance on television in the first debate is reflected by the fact that his mother called him immediately following the debate to ask if he was sick. Kennedy, by contrast, rested before the first debate and appeared tanned, confident, and relaxed during the debate. An estimated 80 million viewers watched the first debate. Most people who watched the debate on TV believed Kennedy had won while radio listeners (a smaller audience) believed Nixon had won. After it had ended polls showed Kennedy moving from a slight deficit into a slight lead over Nixon. For the remaining three debates Nixon regained his lost weight, wore television makeup, and appeared more forceful than his initial appearance. However, up to 20 million fewer viewers watched the three remaining debates than the first debate. Political observers at the time believed that Kennedy won the first debate, Nixon won the second and third debates, and that the fourth debate, which was seen as the strongest performance by both men, was a draw.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
