Presidential Debates. What do they mean and why are they conducted? Surely one side must know that that the other side is a better debater but they go ahead full steam anyway? Most of the time it is because they don't want to look afraid in front of the American public. Other times it may be because a trusted advisor convinced them that they will be dynamite during the debates. Unfortunately hapless candidates have floundered in debates and sometimes even lost elections where credit was given to the debate as the turning point in the election.

When did presidential debates begin? In 1960 John F. Kennedy debated Richard M. Nixon. Nixon had just recovered the flu and had refused makeup. He appeared very pale and sickly on tv. There was no doubt about it, Kennedy won the image factor. Kennedy knew that most most people felt he had a lack of experience at the time, so he began the debate by talking about all the things he accomplished in the Senate. A famous line from Kennedy was " I don't believe in big government, but I believe in effective government action." Nixon pursued a different track. He blamed Truman for the poor economy and praised Eisenhower for improving it In a strange twist, it was said that those that heard the debate on the radio thought that it was a draw yet those who watched it on tv felt that Kennedy won. Could it have been that since Kennedy was clearly the better looking of the two he was given points by the viewers for his appearance? Four debates were conducted between Kennedy and Nixon.

I suspect the reason that there were no presidential debates in the 1800s was that there was no mass audience available. Radio and especially tv made presidential debates a much more practical matter. After all, you were almost guaranteed millions of viewers. This is not to say there were not earlier political debates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in a campaign for one of Illinois' two United States Senate seats in 1858. Although Lincoln lost the election, these debates launched him into national prominence which eventually led to his election as President of the United States.

After the Nixon Kennedy debates there were no more presidential debates for 16 years. It seemed that Presidents Nixon and Johnson didn't feel the need to debate anymore. 1976 not only marked a debate for the office of the Presidency but it was the first time Vice Presidential candidates had a debate. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford held a series of three debates. Jimmy Carter's impression of the debates was expressed when he said "If it hadn't been for the debates, I would have lost. They established me as competent on foreign and domestic affairs and gave the viewers reason to think that Jimmy Carter had something to offer."

In 1980 Carter refused to participate in the first presidential debate because it contained an independent candidate, John Anderson. Carter entered the second debate but Regan killed him. This debate was only a week before the election and truly hurt Carter.

The next presidential debates took place in 1984. They were between Ronald Regan and Walter Mondale. It was felt that the debates helped Mondale but not in a way that would help him win the election, he was just too far behind.

George Bush Senior and Michael Dukakis participated in 2 presidential debates. Dukakis was painted with the Liberal brush by Bush who kept hammering that point home. After Dukakis said he wouldn't favor the death penalty for someone who had raped and killed his wife his ratings began to fall in the poles. Some called him the 'Ice Man'. Debates certainly didn't do Dukakis any good.

The 1992 presidential debates were noted for something unusual. One of the debates was in the form of a town meeting and the participants were allowed to ask questions. The presidential debate participants were George Bush Sr., William Clinton and Ross Perot. One of the highlights of the debates was when Bush attacked Clinton's patriotism. Clinton replied, "When Joe McCarthy went around this country attacking people's patriotism, he was wrong ... and a Senator from Connecticut stood up to him, named Prescott Bush. Your father was right to stand up to Joe McCarthy. You were wrong to attack my patriotism. I was opposed to the war but I love my country." Three debates were conducted and these were the last until the debates between George Bush Jr. and John Kerry.

You can see that presidential debates are important in forming public opinion, but this opinion is not always positive.