Author : U. S. Government
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781522068204
Total Pages : 71 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (682 download)
Book Synopsis Kennedy-Nixon First Joint Radio Television Presidential Debate Broadcast by : U. S. Government
Download or read book Kennedy-Nixon First Joint Radio Television Presidential Debate Broadcast written by U. S. Government and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-10 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The key turning point of the campaign came with the four Kennedy-Nixon debates; they were the first presidential debates ever (The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 had been the first for senators from Illinois), also the first 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. His eyes moved across the room during the debate, and at various moments sweat was visible on his face. 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. Furthermore, the debate set appeared darker once the paint dried up, causing Nixon's suit color to blend in with the background which reduced his stature. 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 and prepared extensively beforehand, appearing tanned, confident, and relaxed during the debate. An estimated 70 million viewers watched the first debate.