braking news A look back at presidential debates

The upcoming debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will mark a continuation of a long-standing American tradition that began over 60 years ago with the first televised presidential debate in 1960, where John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participated. This historic event, which attracted over 66 million viewers from a population of about 180 million, fundamentally altered the nature of political campaigning by emphasizing not just the content of the candidates' messages, but also their visual presence and delivery. Following Kennedy's victory in the election, debates became a regular feature in presidential campaigns, with the exception of 1976 when they did not occur. The Biden-Trump debate, moderated by CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be the first presidential debate to take place without a live audience and is also historically significant for occurring earlier than any previous debate between general election candidates, which traditionally have started in September or early October.