Between a big gaffe from Gerald Ford, a witticism from Ronald Reagan about his age and Joe Biden asking Donald Trump to “shut up”, more than 60 years of American presidential debates have left a long list of notable moments, including here an anthology.
Kennedy-Nixon, September 26, 1960
It was the first televised debate — in black and white — of its kind and it established the role of the image.
After two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower, Republican Richard Nixon appears to be the favorite in the election.
But in front of more than 66 million viewers, he appears pale — he refused to wear makeup — and sweating, while the young Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy is tanned and relaxed.
When he speaks, the Democrat systematically looks at the camera, and therefore at the voter, while Nixon addresses the moderator.
Ford-Carter, October 6, 1976
After a first debate marked by a long live audio interruption, outgoing Republican President Gerald Ford made an irreparable blunder during the second duel against Jimmy Carter.
In the midst of the Cold War, he assured that “there is no Soviet domination in Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration”, while the USSR has troops deployed in several countries.
It would take Gerald Ford six days to acknowledge that Soviet divisions were established in Poland, but that he was addressing the spirit of resistance of his people.
Reagan-Mondale, October 21, 1984
Outgoing Republican President, Ronald Reagan was 73 years old when he ran against Walter Mondale, 56 years old.
But he turned this handicap into an asset, with a famous phrase: “I am not going to turn age into a campaign issue. I am not going to exploit, for political reasons, the youth and inexperience of my opponent.”
Bush-Clinton-Perot, October 15, 1992
The 2e The presidential debate is a three-way street, with Ross Perot as an independent candidate facing incumbent President George Bush and his eventual successor Bill Clinton.
An image will cost President Bush dearly, who pointedly looks at his watch during a question from the audience.
Years later, he would confess his hatred of the exercise: “Maybe that’s why I was looking at it (my watch), thinking: ‘Only ten more minutes of this crap’.”
Obama-Romney, October 22, 2012
Facing outgoing President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney laments that the American Navy has fewer ships than in 1916.
“Well, Mr. Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our army has changed. We have what are called aircraft carriers, on which planes land. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines,” mocks the Democrat, with a phrase that is going viral on the Internet.
Trump-Clinton, October 9, 2016
The 2e The 2016 American presidential debate has gone down in history for its virulence. On the ropes after the disclosure of a video where he boasts of grabbing women “by the pussy”, Donald Trump counterattacks on a personal level by evoking the former president and husband of his rival, Bill Clinton, who he accuses of having “abused women”.
He promises to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her private emails when she was US Secretary of State. “It’s really good that someone with Donald Trump’s temperament is not in charge of the laws of our country,” she says. “You’d be in jail,” the Republican billionaire retorts.
Trump-Biden, September 29, 2020
Like 2016, the first debate of the 2020 presidential election turns into chaos.
Now the outgoing president, Donald Trump keeps interrupting Joe Biden, who ends up responding with a memorable: “Will you shut up, man?”
The Democrat also calls his opponent a “clown” or “Putin’s poodle.”
Presciently, Donald Trump refuses to say whether he will recognize the result of the election. Powerless to hold the two candidates, the moderator of the debate, Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, admitted to having felt “despair”.
