1960 Debate

  1. Visual image of candidates
  2. Reaction shots
  3. Quality of answers
  4. Quiz show format
broadcast live from Chicago Sept. 26 at 8:30 pm
Producer: Don Hewitt of CBS
Moderator: Howard K. Smith
70m viewers out of 120m population
88% of 44m homes had TV
Gallup poll: 43% JFK, 23% RN, 29% even
voter turnout: 63.1% (highest since 1908)
JFK = 34,227,096 (49.9%), 303 electoral votes
RN = 34,108,546 (49.6%), 219 electoral votes
Democrats lost 2 Senate seats (but 64-36 majority)
Democrats lost 22 House seats (but 263-174 majority)

Resources:


revised 11/23/05 by Steven Schoenherr at the University of San Diego | Television history