DAY IN HISTORY-SEPT. 26, 1960

First Televised U.S. Presidential Debate

Nixon and Kennedy spar as millions watch on television

Photo of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon taken prior to their first debate at WBBM-TV in Chicago in 1960. Credit: Associated Press. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The advent of television brought with it the ability to influence millions of viewers when it came to advertising, cultural issues and presidential politics.

Television played a key role in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. For the first time, two presidential candidates — John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the Democratic nominee and Richard M. Nixon, Vice President and the Republican nominee — appeared on a televised live debate.

But a little known fact is, technically, the Kennedy-Nixon debate was not the first televised presidential debate. According to the U.S. Senate, a presidential debate was televised in November 1956, but the participants were not the incumbent, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Democratic challenger, Illinois Governor Adlai E. Stevenson. Instead, two women appeared as their surrogates: Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith for Eisenhower and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for Stevenson.

Still, the Kennedy-Nixon debate was the first televised debate between two presidential candidates. It took place on September 26, 1960 from 9:30 to 10:30 PM Eastern time at the studios of WBBM-TV…