U.S. Presidential Elections Explained: What is the Importance, Purpose and History of U.S. Presidential Debates?
An Important American Tradition (and a Modern Must-Have Event on the Election Calendar)
These days, presidential debates are an integral part of the presidential campaign in the United States of America. A good performance of a presidential candidate can lead to a win in the election because presidential debates draw an extensive nationwide viewership.
According to Statista, the top eight most-watched presidential debates attracted an estimated 84 million to 63 million viewers!
The top three most-viewed presidential debates since 1976 are: Clinton /Trump (September 26th, 2016) with 84 million watching, Carter/Reagan (October 28th, 1980) with 80 million watching, and Trump/Biden (September 29th, 2020) with 73.1m watching. But why have the presidential debates became so popular?
History: Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The tradition of integrating debate between two candidates into a political campaign goes back to the 19th century. According to HowStuffWorks, presidential debates originated during the senatorial campaign between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858 when Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas and Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln held a series of seven debates.
The debates, which lasted three hours each, focused on the moral and economic aspects of slavery extension. In 1860, the Lincoln-Douglas debates were published as a book, were used as a vital campaign document, and set an important milestone in a tradition of the interactive political debate between the candidates.
1958: A First Radio Debate
After the Lincoln-Douglas debate, many election cycles passed until debate culture was reactivated. A new technology, namely radio broadcast, made the open public debate between two competing candidates (as opposed to a set of campaign speeches) possible and more accessible to average Americans. In 1948, Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen, two Republican primary candidates, debated over outlawing communism in the United States while 40 to 80 million Americans listened to the debate live.
A First Televised Debate
Later, with the popularity of television, live radio broadcasts of the political debates were replaced by televised debates broadcasted live. In 1952, the League of Women Voters hosted the first televised debate for all candidates.
However, the most famous televised presidential debate occurred on September 26th, 1960 between two opposing candidates, namely President Richard Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy. The debate took place in the studios of a CBS affiliate in Chicago and became a groundbreaking event with more than 66 million people watching.
As a result of the poor performance of President Nixon, who suffered a knee injury a month before and therefore looked seriously ill during the debate, his opponent, John F. Kennedy, who looked relaxed and confident during the debate, benefited from an advantage in the polls. After two more televised debates, so-called “Great Debates”, Kennedy won the popular vote in a close race (49.7 % for Kennedy vs. 49.5% for Nixon).
According to History.com, polls revealed that “more than half of all voters had been influenced by the Great Debates, while 6 percent claimed that the debates alone had decided their choice.” Those statistics could not be ignored! As a result, the Kennedy-Nixon Debates established a new tradition in the democratic process of elections that is still alive today.
Debates Today: The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD)
Today, presidential debates are an integral part of the voters’ decision-making process of the American electorate. In 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was established “to ensure, for the benefit of the American electorate, that general election debates between or among the leading candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States are a permanent part of the electoral process.
CPD’s primary purpose is to sponsor and produce the quadrennial general election debates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates.” In other words, the purpose of the CPD is to host a non-partisan debate between the presidential and vice presidential leading candidates during the general elections every four years. To ensure non-partisanship, the Commission defines who can participate in the debates, selects a different location for each debate, and moderates the debates.
Who Debates?
According to the CPD rules, to be able to participate in the debates, a candidate has to have a statistically feasible chance of winning a majority of the Electoral College votes. Practically speaking, it means that the candidate has to be on enough states’ ballots to win 270 electoral votes. (To learn more about the Electoral College, read our recent blog on the subject.) Furthermore, a candidate must have at least 15 percent support among the national electorate, according to five national public opinion surveying organizations defined by CPD.
Learn More About How the Electoral College Works
Where to Debate?
The CPD selects a neutral space for each debate and chooses a different location throughout the country. Being considered a host for a presidential or vice presidential debate is considered to be a great honor. Often, presidential debates are held at colleges and universities. However, candidates’ alma maters are excluded. There is also a set of minimum requirements for where the debates occur. They include an air-conditioned space for the debate of at least 15,000 square feet and a minimum of 3,000 hotel rooms available nearby. In most cases, small colleges and universities don’t qualify.
How to Debate?
To ensure non-partisanship, CPD defines formats for each debate. There are three options:
- A moderator format is a debate hosted by one or two individuals who ask and moderate questions. The candidates either stand at the podiums across from each other or sit at the same table.
- A panelist format is moderated by a several persons.
- A town hall meeting format is the most spontaneous format where the audience has a chance to ask questions.
In sum, CPD typically oversees three presidential and one vice presidential debates every four years. However, the candidates must agree to the debates, and their campaigns confer on the debate format.
All in all, presidential debates are now a part of the American political tradition, and you can impress your relatives, colleagues, and friends.
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