Sep 20, 2010 · The first televised presidential debate in American history took place between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon on September 26, 1960. The Kennedy-Nixon debates not only had a major impact on the ...
Jan 10, 2013 · The two young men had just held their first debate out in Western Pennsylvania. It was a Monday night and the two were taking the midnight train, the Capitol Limited, back to Washington. They'd ...
Nov 13, 2009 · In the second of four televised debates, Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon turn their attention to foreign policy issues. Three Cold War episodes, in ...
Nov 08, 2018 · On this day in 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history. At 43, Kennedy became ...
First presidential debate | |
---|---|
Date(s) | September 26, 1960 |
Venue | WBBM-TV |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Participants | John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon |
In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon squared off in the first televised presidential debates in American history. The Kennedy-Nixon debates not only had a major impact on the election’s outcome, but ushered in a new era in which crafting a public image and taking advantage of media exposure became essential ingredients ...
The U.S. presidential election of 1960 came at a decisive time in American history. The country was engaged in a heated Cold War with the Soviet Union, which had just taken the lead in the space race by launching the Sputnik satellite. The rise of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary regime in Cuba had heightened fears about the spread of communism in the Western Hemisphere. On the domestic front, the struggle for civil rights and desegregation had deeply divided the nation, raising crucial questions about the state of democracy in the United States.At a time when the need for strong leadership was all too obvious, two vastly different candidates vied for the presidency: John F. Kennedy, a young but dynamic Massachusetts senator from a powerful New England family, and Richard Nixon, a seasoned lawmaker who was currently serving as vice president. With little more than a single unremarkable term in the U.S. senate under his belt, the 43-year-old Kennedy lacked Nixon’s extensive foreign policy experience and had the disadvantage of being one of the first Catholics to run for president on a major party ticket. Nixon, by contrast, had spent nearly eight years as the country’s second-in-command after an illustrious career in Congress during which he cast crucial votes on a variety of domestic issues, became one of global communism’s most outspoken critics and helped expose Alger Hiss’ alleged espionage attempt–all by the age of 39.The rivals campaigned tirelessly throughout the summer of 1960, with Nixon inching ahead in the polls to gain a slim lead. When the season began to turn, however, so did the tables. Nixon took a major hit in August when a reporter asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to name some of his vice president’s contributions. Exhausted and irritated after a long press conference, Eisenhower replied, “If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don’t remember.” (While the remark was intended as a self-deprecating reference to the president’s own mental fatigue, the Democrats promptly used it in a television commercial that ended with the statement: “President Eisenhower could not remember, but the voters will remember.”) That same month, Nixon bashed his knee on a car door while campaigning in North Carolina and developed an infection that landed him in the hospital; he emerged two weeks later frail, sallow and 20 pounds underweight.
Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon turn their attention to foreign policy issues. Three Cold War episodes, in particular, engendered spirited confrontations between Kennedy and Nixon. The first involved Cuba, which had recently come under the control of Fidel Castro. Nixon argued that the island was not “lost” to the United States, and that the course of action followed by the Eisenhower administration had been the best one to allow the Cuban people to “realize their aspirations of progress through freedom.” Kennedy fired back that it was clear that Castro was a communist, and that the Republican administration failed to use U.S. resources effectively to prevent his rise to power. He concluded that, “Today Cuba is lost for freedom.”
Poet Allen Ginsberg reads “Howl” for the first time. Poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem “Howl” at a poetry reading at Six Gallery in San Francisco. The poem was an immediate success that rocked the Beat literary world and set the tone for confessional poetry of the 1960s and later.
On October 7, 1983, Sean Connery stars in Never Say Never Again as the British secret service agent James Bond, a role he last played in 1971. The film’s title referenced the fact that the Scottish-born actor had previously remarked that he would never play Agent 007 again. ...read more
Four Palestinian terrorists board the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro shortly after it left Alexandria, Egypt, in order to hijack the luxury liner. The well-armed men, who belonged to the Popular Front for the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), the terrorist wing of the ...read more
On October 7, 1960 , the first episode of the one-hour television drama "Route 66" airs on CBS. The program had a simple premise: It followed two young men, Buz Murdock (George Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner), as they drove across the country in an inherited Corvette ...read more. World War II. 1943.
On October 7, 1960, the first episode of the one-hour television drama "Route 66" airs on CBS. The program had a simple premise: It followed two young men, Buz Murdock (George Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner), as they drove across the country in an inherited Corvette ...read more
On October 7, 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, the most populous state in the nation with the world’s fifth-largest economy. Despite his inexperience, Schwarzenegger came out on top in the 11-week campaign to replace Gray Davis, who had ...read more
The scholarly analysis of the Kennedy-Nixon debates covers how scholars have debated the significance and ideas of the 1960 election year and how those ideas and perceptions have changed over time.
Background. The four 1960 presidential debates with John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were the first televised general-election presidential debates and brought new criteria to the presidential candidates campaigning. The first Kennedy-Nixon debate captured over 65 million viewers resulting in a major impact in the election's outcome and outreach.
The first Kennedy-Nixon debate captured over 65 million viewers resulting in a major impact in the election's outcome and outreach. However, the hope of attracting more potential voters and increasing education of the issues was overcome by the interest of politicians catering to public image and using media exposure to build credibility and create more personality.
Nixon learned this the hard way during the first debate on September 26, 1960.
That afternoon, after about thirty hours of confinement at Reidsville, Martin Luther King Jr. walked out of his cell for his flight home to Atlanta. About two hours later he stepped off a chartered plane at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport into the arms of his relieved wife and other supporters.
Its target was one of Atlanta’s venerable institutions, Rich’s department store; its goal: to desegregate the store’s snack bars and restaurants. The young activists urged King to come along—and go to jail with them—to draw attention to their campaign.
Wagner Act. By 1932, with the economy long since stagnant and a reelection campaign looming, President Herbert Hoover, hoping to stimulate American industry , created this agency to provide emergency loans to banks, building-and-loan societies, railroads, and other private industries.
The turning point in the Pacific Theater came in June 1942 when the United States won a decisive victory at: The Battle of Midway. The garrison on this island was 77,000 men strong at the beginning of the conflict, and the commander of the island was willing for them all to die in a heroic defense of the island.
The Democrats chose this person in the Election of 1944, rather than incumbent Vice President Henry A. Wallace, as Roosevelt's running mate. Harry S. Truman. This conference in February 1945 marked the increasing ascendance of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the decline of Roosevelt. Yalta Conference.
Modeled after NATO, this organization created alliances between European Allies and Australia, Pakistan, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Signed by the Soviet Union and its communist satellites, this agreement was a mutual assistance treaty modeled after NATO.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted from December 1955 until December 20, 1956, when the Supreme Court ordered their integration. The boycott not only crushed segregation in Montgomery's public transportation, it energized the entire civil rights movement and established the leadership of the MIA's president, a recently arrived, ...