[lively band music]
(male voiceover) Richard Nixon was the favorite to
win the Republican presidential
nomination in 1960.
Just 14 years after he was tapped by a
group of small town businessmen to run for
Congress in California, Richard Nixon
stood at the top of his party.
As he mapped out an ambitious
50-state campaign,
he was challenged by his opponent,
John F. Kennedy, to a series of televised
debates; the first in American history.
Even when hospitalized for two
weeks with a knee injury,
Nixon remained confident,
anxious for the debates to begin.
Eager once again to use television
to talk directly to the voters.
(moderator) The Republican candidate,
Vice President Richard M. Nixon and
the Democratic candidate,
Senator John F. Kennedy.
According to rules set by
the candidates themselves,
each man shall-
(male voiceover) The Nixon-Kennedy debates would forever
change the way Americans
chose their presidents.
Political rallies and old-fashioned
hand shaking became much less important
than the image on the television screen.
(Ted Rogers) You must understand that Nixon himself
had said, I don't want any makeup on for
these particular debates.
What I tried to explain to Dick was
he has a certain characteristic
of his skin where it's almost transparent.
And it was a very nice thought to say,
you know, I don't want any makeup,
but that he really needed it
in order to have what we would call
even an acceptable television picture.
And of course, JFK here,
he'd been riding in motorcades all
over California with the top down.
He looked like a bronze warrior when
he came into Chicago, he really did.
(Richard Nixon) I know what it means to see
people who are unemployed.
I know Senator Kennedy feels as
deeply about these problems as I do.
But our disagreement is not
about the goals for America, but only
about the means to reach those goals.
(male voiceover) The first debate was costly to Nixon.
The radio audience thought he had won.
But the largest television audience in
history had seen the Vice President
haggard and drawn, and had been given its
first sustained look at the Kennedy style.