The Myths of the JFK-Nixon Debate

The first televised presidential debate in U.S. history took place in 1960 between then-Vice President Richard Nixon and a young, charismatic Senator named John F. Kennedy. You may have learned in high school that audiences who watched the debate on television thought JFK won, and audiences who listened on the radio thought Nixon won. But the truth is not quite that simple. To separate fact from fiction and chat about the legacy of the JFK-Nixon debate in U.S. politics, we’re joined by Craig LaMay, professor of U.S. and comparative media law at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and co-author of Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.