In class, we saw a documentary about the first presidential debate. It was about John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon who participated in the presidential debate in 1960 that was "held in the NBC studios in Washington D.C and moderated by Frank McGee". According to an article that stumbled into it, it talked about the possible win rate and how "Nixon had won the debates.. but that 70 million who watched the candidate on the television believed Kennedy was the clear victor". During the debate, JFK seemed very relax and president material, vs Nixon who was very unprofessional and was really nervous. Nixon was always agreeing to Kennedy on everything he was saying because he wasn't prepared for the debate. This shows to the people that he wasn't well prepared to be a president. Do you think if Nixon would have been prepared and shown confidence in the debate, would that change the results of the election? What are your thoughts on the elections?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_debates
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/11/15/does-television-affect-how-we-elect-presidents/
interesting enough, I think that Nixon would have still lost. Kennedy was younger, more charismatic and much more fit to be president. Nixon was struggling with his health just before going into to the debate. Maybe if he had been at his prime in terms of health and confidence, then maybe he would have had a chance but Kennedy was just a better overall candidate as perceived by the people.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/politics/jfk-nixon-debate/index.html