Between a big blunder by Gerald Ford, a witty remark 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 memorable moments, of which here is a selection.
Kennedy-Nixon, September 26, 1960
It is the first televised debate – in black and white – of its kind and it consecrates the role of the image.
After two terms as vice-president of 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 sound interruption during live broadcast, the 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 took six days for Gerald Ford to recognize that Soviet divisions were established in Poland, but that he was speaking to the spirit of resistance of its peoples.
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 transformed this handicap into an asset, with a formula that has remained famous: “I am not going to transform age into a campaign subject. I will not 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 debate, 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 deplores that the American navy has fewer ships than in 1916.
“Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and fewer bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed. We have what are called aircraft carriers, on which planes land. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines,” the Democrat mocks, in a phrase that is going viral on the Internet.
Trump-Clinton, October 9, 2016
The 2e The 2016 US presidential debate has gone down in history for its virulence. On the ropes after the release of a video in which he boasts of grabbing women “by the pussy”, Donald Trump counterattacked on a personal level by evoking the former president and husband of his rival, Bill Clinton, whom he accused of having “abused women”.
He promises to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her private emails when she was head of American diplomacy. “It’s really good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not responsible for the laws of our country,” she says. “You would be in prison,” retorts the Republican billionaire.
Trump-Biden, September 29, 2020
Like in 2016, the first debate of the 2020 presidential election turns into chaos.
Now outgoing president, Donald Trump keeps interrupting Joe Biden, who ends up returning a memorable: “Are you going to shut up, man? “.
The Democrat also describes his opponent as a “clown” or “Putin’s poodle”.
Predictably, Donald Trump refuses to say whether he will recognize the election result. Powerless to hold the two candidates, the debate moderator, Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, will admit to feeling “despair.”