The original documents are located in Box 30, folder “Nixon - Kennedy Debates (1)” of the Michael Raoul-Duval Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Michael Raoul-Duval donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Some items in this folder were not digitized because it contains copyrighted materials. Please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library for access to these materials. MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE WASHING TO~ September 14, 1976 TO: MIKE DUVAL FROM: HELEN COLLINS I am having WHCA record PBS' s special tonight of highlights from the 1960 debates, followed by che panel discussion. cc: Dave Gergen The. Debates, Old and'New ' ~,...... ________ __ By John Carmody The 1960 Kennedy-Nbton televised debates will get a couple of thorough reviews on Channel 26 thli month, in­ cluding a rerun or' the '' enttre -f~ur hours on a night yet to be chosen. WETA, in co-production with ·chan­ nel 13 in New York, Plant to run a re­ prise of the Kennedy-Nbton debate highlights starting at 9 p.m.. -on Sept. " 14. The show will be aeen •. natlonally on PBS. One hour and 35 mlnutea of that show will be from the debates and a panel discussion will follow that will include Martin Agronsky-host of the show-Sander Vanocur and George Will. I PBS, meanwhile, announced yester­ day that' it will carry the three de­ bates between President Ford and Jimmy Carter u wen.. •• the . debate between Sens. Dole ,and" Mondale. PRESIDfTIAL RECORD BOOK SE¢TI,~ c . WHITE HOUSE O).. E0 O. B. RETURN DATE: ______ THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DA TE tf--::i '7 TO: ~~ FROM: JOSEPH S. JENCKES V FOR YOUR INFORMATION ---- FOR YOUR COMMENTS ------ .. f the President: Part Two naking all together the CHAPTER ELEVEN 1iy of the major regions elt Nixon victory to the ,s certainly true in other t in the farm belt it was ROUND TWO: he culture of the small 1d upbringing, by speech THE TELEVISION DEBATJ;S : and Harvard prose of 1 elegance of the Demo- 1spect. wLfv ved in the sun and the 3. S conspicuous. He had ~r 1 the small towns; had d ham sandwiches) at orial of the Grand Army the crown piece of the 8:30 P.M., Chicago time, on the evening of September 26th, r, where the State Plow­ 1960, the voice and shadow of the previous show faded from badly-the farmers and A the screen; in a few seconds it was followed by another voice sun and listened to bis and by a visual clip extolling the virtues of Liggett and Myers cigarettes; ifferently, as if they were fifteen seconds were then devoted to Maybelline, the mascara "de­ ;s, as if no one, not even voted exclusively to eye beauty, velvety soft and smooth." Then a deep scoped his prepared re- voice regretfully announced that the viewers who turned to this channel 1sit to the issue of peace would tonight be denied the privilege of viewing the Andy Griffith Show m on solid ground again -and the screen dissolved to three men who were about to confirm a .e to the road once more. revolution in American Presidential politics . ,bing the children who This revolution bad been made by no one of the three men on "Imagine coming to see screen-John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon or Howard K. Smith, the ing you out of school for moderator. It was a revolution born of the ceaseless American genius dark at peak form. in technology; its sole agent and organizer had been the common Ameri­ not help but please him. can television set. Tonight it was to permit the simultaneous gathering of ,em appearances; and as all the tribes of America to ponder their choice between two chieftains :i resonance wherever be in the largest political convocation in the history of man. ace; some of bis advisers Again, it is the census that best describes this revolution. e," but he told them that Ten years earlier (in 1950) of America's then 40,000,000 families ase the image of pugnac­ only 11 per cent (or 4,400,000) enjoyed the pleasures of a television Jhysically with travel and set. By 1960 the number of American families had grown to 44,000,000, her Black Thursday, and and of these no less than 88 per cent, or 40,000,000, possessed a edule, his health began to television set. The installation of this equipment had in some years of the previous decade partaken of the quality of stampede-and in the the second round of the peak stampede years of 1954-1955-1956 no fewer than 10,000 Ameri­ episode not only new to can homes had each been installing a new television set for the first time ~p of American political every single day of the year. The change that came about with this stampede is almost immeasurable. By the summer of 1960 the average THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON 9/6/76 TO Mike Duval FROM: DAVE GERGEN Well worth reading. --,-~ tf ✓ C. - / !/. rr It was the da"- ' th:i" changed poli- 0~~.., ;;;;;::==;:z:::==============~=!!::!!!:f~==:::: tics. Before it,·: olit'1 ians had looked luicl changed the balarn.:e of an elec- 1 i: like politicians nd 1 sses were still tion, and the power was so great - bosses; after it nothing was the that sixteen years bter no two same: the bosses were on their way Presidential nominees had ever downhill and the candidates looked again debatecl, though the entire different, the tailoring was better, mition wanted more debates. There cut tighter at the waist, the h_air was simply too much to lose. The was a little longer because televi­ PBESJDENT big winner that night in In60, of sion diminished normal-length hair. course, had been television, more Even the smells were different, the Wil~EO specifically the networks. From old smell of cigars replaced by the by David Halberstam then on, television sets were that ·) smell of cosmetics, though, in def­ much more respectable and manda- ,. erence to the macho of the candi­ tory in homes, and television ,vas -~ dates, some networks, like CBS, How television that much more legitimized as the had an iron rule that no photog­ became:.our most powerful main instrument of political dis- ¾ raphers were allowed in the room political machine course. It was a great night for the ~J where a candidate was putting on networks, something they had ,r makeup. Afterwards candidates wanted for years, and, indeed, in ;c. and their managers planned sched­ 1952, Frank Stanton, the president..~; ules not so much by cities or states of CBS, had broached the idea to -_~i but by television markets, that was Dwight Eisenhower, asking him to ~~ the television word, and, fittingly, debate Atllai Stevenson on televi- -~ they were there to. sell themselves sion. Ike, who always deferred to in markets. It changed the entire staff expertise, asked if Stanton balance and nature of political ex­ had checked with Ben Duffy of · posure; in the old pre-television B.B.D.&O., his principal media ad- - campaign, perhaps fifty thousand viser. Stanton said he had. "Ancl - · people might view a Presidential what did he say?" asked Eisen­ . candidate fa a given city on a very hower. "No," said Stanton_ " \.Vell, good day, and perhaps three to four that's my answer," said Ike. hundred thousand might see him in The mystery, oe course, was why an entire campaign. Now it was all Rirbrirrl Nixon haJ · aQTe~(l tr; the changing; millions and millions .debates,- had in effect grunted j";;j, could see the candidate in one night. Rennedv instant ecnl')ftTC fie TGcl' The bosses were quickly being re­ surprised his own staff by"' announc-• placed by a new breed of arbiter of ing that he would debate. Previous­ American political taste, men like ly he -had emphasized to his cam­ David Garth and Bill Wilson and paign aides that there would be no Charles Guggenheim, television ad- debates, and that no one on th!:'- - . visers to political candidates, and staff was to mention debates. It the respect for Garth, for example, was verboten. "In 1946, a damn and the power he had were so great foot incumbent named Jerry Voor­ that his very willingness to take on his debated a young lav,-yer and it a given candidate made that candi­ cost him the election," Nixon told date a serious contender and meant one staff meeting, as if to empha­ that money might come in. size how strongly he felt. The po­ The first debate, in 1960, had litical aides in the ·room, like Leon­ changed it all, ushered in one era ard Hall, who had been the head of and closed out another. John Ken­ the Republican party, felt reas­ ·i ! nedy had gone in, if nof exactly an sured hearing Nixon talk like that, I unknown, certainly the underdog, for there was nothing to win and a and he had come out looking a win­ lot to lose.