Joe Biden and Donald Trump will debate for the first time this election cycle on Thursday, providing the opportunity for some historic moments.
Debates can inform voters about both the issues and the temperament of the candidates, potentially steering an undecided voter toward one candidate. They can also make good TV and create sound bites that will resonate for decades to come.
From the candidates’ physical appearances to gaffes, planned attacks and off-the-cuff responses, here are some memorable moments from the history of the American presidential debate.
1960: The first and possibly still the most famous American presidential debate on television pitted the telegenic Democrat John F Kennedy against the Republican Vice President Richard Nixon, creating defining moments for both presidential debates and television itself. The clammy Nixon was recovering from an illness and had a five o’clock shadow, but refused makeup. TV viewers would have judged Kennedy the winner, while radio listeners gave it to Nixon or called it a tie. Kennedy won a narrow election. Three years later he was murdered.
1976: Republican President Gerald Ford, who succeeded Nixon after the Watergate scandal, had closed the gap with the Democrats Jimmy Carter but then noted: “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” It was seen as a crucial blunder in the context of the Cold War and Carter went on to win the election.
1980: Carter accused Republicans Ronald Reagan planning to cut Medicare health care funding for the elderly. Reagan, who had complained that Carter misrepresented his positions on many issues, said with a chuckle, “There you are again.” The crowd erupted. The match attracted 80.6 million viewers, the most ever for a presidential debate at that time, according to Nielsen.
1984: Reagan, at 73 at the time the oldest president in American history, took the sting out of the issue of his age during the second debate with Democratic candidate Walter Mondale, 56, with this line: “I want you to know that too , I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience for political purposes.” Reagan was reelected.
1988: Democrat Michael Dukakis, who is running against Republican Vice President George HW Bush, was asked whether he would support the death penalty for someone who raped and murdered his wife. “No, I don’t, Bernard,” the Massachusetts governor replied. “And I think you know I’ve been against the death penalty my whole life.” He was criticized as cold and emotionless and lost the election.
1988: In the vice presidential debate, Bush’s running mate Dan Quayle compared himself to John F. Kennedy. Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen shot back: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are not Jack Kennedy.” It is probably the most famous line ever uttered in a vice presidential debate and has been much parodied since.
1992: In a three-way matchup with Democrat Bill Clinton and businessman Ross Perot, President George HW Bush made the fatal mistake of looking at his watch. It gave the impression of a haughty, aloof incumbent who didn’t want to be there and took too much for granted. Bush later admitted what was on his mind: “Just ten more minutes of this nonsense.” He lost to Clinton.
2000: Democratic Vice President Al Gore entered the debate leading in the polls, but sighed loudly when his rival, Republican George W. Bush, spoke. In another incident, he was criticized for invading Bush’s personal space when Bush sauntered forward and Gore stood up and walked toward his rival, as if looking for a fight. Bush fired him with a nod and won a close and bitterly contested election.
2012: It was widely believed that President Barack Obama had “phoned in” his first mediocre debate performance against Republican Mitt Romney, who performed above expectations. But in the second debate, Romney, in response to a question about gender equality, said he had “packers full of women” as candidates for Cabinet posts. The phrase became a meme on social media and Romney lost in November.
2016: Without an incumbent party in the mix: Republican Donald Trump and the Democrat Hillary Clinton discussed as an outsider and a seasoned civil servant respectively. In perhaps the most lasting soundbite, Clinton addressed Trump’s inability to pay income taxes in the few tax returns that were public at the time. “That makes me smart,” Trump replied. He also called people entering the US “bad hombres,” messing up the pronunciation of the word. And in one eerie moment, Trump stood right behind Clinton as she answered an audience question that Clinton later wrote gave her goosebumps. Trump also refused to say whether he would accept the outcome of the 2016 election.
2020: Trump, now the incumbent president, debated Joe Biden in his characteristically sharp, interruptive manner. At one point, an exasperated Biden pleaded, “Will you shut up, man?” The memorable line came as the debate schedule was disrupted by a new virus, Covid-19, spreading across the country. Trump tested positive for the virus, prompting the cancellation of the second debate. His former chief of staff claimed that Trump tested positive before the first debate but did not make it public, a claim Trump called “fake news.” Biden went on to win the election.
