![]() He initially gave the slight edge to Nixon, but changed his mind after watching a replay. Smith was sitting behind the candidates during the program and couldn’t see their faces. The survey’s methods have since been called into question, but its general findings were backed up by Howard K. According to one oft-cited survey, people who listened to the debate on the radio tended to call it a draw, while those who saw it on television pronounced Kennedy the clear winner. Not everyone believed Nixon had done poorly. His running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, supposedly fumed, “That son of a bitch just cost us the election.” “After the program ended, callers, including my mother, wanted to know if anything was wrong,” Nixon later wrote in his memoirs. Smith And OTHER journalists ask questions during their first debate.īoth candidates had declined the services of a makeup artist before the broadcast, but while Kennedy later had a light coat of cosmetics applied in secret, Nixon opted to cover his five o’clock shadow with a powder called “Lazy Shave.” The product started to run down his cheeks as the hour-long debate wore on, giving him an even more ashen appearance. Presidential candidates Senator John Kennedy and Vice president Richard Nixon standing at lecterns IN A TV STUDIO as moderator Howard K. He was seen repeatedly licking his lips and mopping at the sweat beading on his face, and was clad in an ill-fitting grey suit that too closely matched the color of the studio set. By contrast, the feverish Nixon came off haggard and anxious. ![]() The young senator looked confident and alert throughout the debate, and directed his remarks to the camera with an authority that helped sweep away doubts about his age and experience. The New York Times later observed that the evening was “distinguished by a suavity, earnestness and courtesy that suggested that the two men were more concerned about ‘image projection’ to their huge television audience than about scoring debating points.”īut if “image projection” was the goal of the night, there was little doubt that Kennedy came away the victor. The exchanges rarely got heated, and neither man made any significant missteps while discussing the minimum wage, healthcare, economic growth and the threat of communism. Smith appeared on Americans’ television screens and announced that the two candidates alongside him “need no introduction.” The topic was domestic issues, and by all accounts, Nixon and Kennedy both held their own. The debate proceeded as planned later that evening, when moderator Howard K. Debate producer Don Hewitt would later say the Republican candidate’s pale complexion and gaunt face made him look “like death warmed over.” Nixon refused to cancel, however, saying that dropping out so late would make him look like a “chicken.” He showed up at the debate with a 102-degree fever and a sore leg, having whacked his hurt knee a second time on his way into the building. The sitting Vice President had run himself ragged trying to fulfill a campaign promise to visit all 50 states, and had recently spent nearly two weeks in the hospital after banging his knee on a car door and contracting a Staph infection. Even Richard Nixon later wrote that, “I had never seen him looking so fit.” When Kennedy finally arrived at CBS studios on the evening of September 26, he was rested and ready for action. Knowing that his face would be beamed to millions of black and white TV sets, he also took a long nap and worked on his tan on the roof of his Chicago hotel. He spent the hours before the contest cramming his head with facts and figures and having his aides quiz him on possible debate questions. The 43-year-old Massachusetts senator had emerged from relative obscurity to become the Democratic nominee, but he was still struggling against the perception that he was too inexperienced to be Commander in Chief. ![]() Kennedy knew the debates could be the shot in the arm that his campaign needed. Trending Questions When did John Ringling become famous? How do you spell bager? Who was the secretary of defense sent to Vietnam on a fact finding mission? What did Andrew Jackson think of paper money? How many branches of arm force are there in th US? How did Jules Henri Poincare die? What is the correct spelling of Ghent Charts? Who else could be impeached and removed from office? What are two US states that are on opposite coasts? Is president in this sentence a direct object or an objective complement you elected him president? Where did Ulysses S.John F.
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