Unforgettable moments from the US presidential debates

Unforgettable moments from the US presidential debates

From a Gerald Ford gaffe, a Ronald Reagan joke about his age to Joe Biden asking donald trump shut up, more than 60 years of presidential debates in USA They have left a long list of unforgettable moments.

Here are some examples that have remained in the annals of political history.

Kennedy-Nixon, September 26, 1960

Republican Richard Nixon congratulates John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961, moments after the Democrat's inauguration as the new president of the United States.  (AFP)
Republican Richard Nixon congratulates John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961, moments after the Democrat’s inauguration as the new president of the United States. (AFP)

It was the first televised debate – in black and white – and from then on the image took on a primary role in politics. After two terms as Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president, Republican Richard Nixon was the favorite to win the election.

But before 66 million television viewers, he appears pale – he refused to wear makeup – and sweaty, while the young Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy looks tanned and self-confident. When he speaks, the Democrat looks directly at the camera, at the voter, while the Republican addresses the moderator. The influence the debate had on the electorate is unknown, but Kennedy won the election.

Ford-Carter, October 6, 1976

(Photo: AP)
(Photo: AP)

After a first debate marked by a live sound failure, outgoing Republican President Gerald Ford makes an irreparable blunder in his second face-to-face with Jimmy Carter.

In the middle of the Cold War, he assures that “there is no Soviet rule in Eastern Europe and there never will be during a Ford administration”, despite the fact that the USSR has troops deployed in several countries. It took Ford six days to recognize that there were Soviet troops in Poland and he assured that he was talking about the spirit of resistance of its people.

Reagan-Mondale, October 21, 1984

(Photo: AP)
(Photo: AP)

Outgoing Republican President Ronald Reagan is 73 years old when he seeks re-election against Walter Mondale, 56. But he transforms what could be an obstacle into an asset, with a formula that has gone down in history: “I am not going to make age a campaign issue. “I am not going to exploit, for political reasons, the youth and inexperience of my opponent.”.

Bush-Clinton-Perot, October 15, 1992

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.  (Getty Images).
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. (Getty Images).

The second presidential debate is held between three: the independent candidate Ross Perot, the outgoing president George Bush and his future successor Bill Clinton. One image will cost Bush, who conspicuously looks at his watch during a question from the public.

Years later, he admitted that he hated debates: “qMaybe that’s why I was looking at (my watch) and thinking, ‘just ten more minutes of this crap.'”

Obama-Romney, October 22, 2012

Obama and Romney (Photo: AP)
Obama and Romney (Photo: AP)

Before outgoing President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney regrets that the US Navy has fewer ships than in 1916.

Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our navy has changed. We have what we call aircraft carriers, on which planes land. “We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.”the Democrat mocks, a response that went viral on the internet.

Trump-Clinton, October 9, 2016

Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton in the US Elections, according to a new survey.  (Photo: EFE)
Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton in the US Elections, according to a new survey. (Photo: EFE)

The second presidential debate of 2016 has gone down in the annals for its virulence. Against the ropes, after the release of a video in which he boasts of grabbing women “by the genitals”Donald Trump counterattacks on a personal level and assures that former President Bill Clinton, his rival’s husband, “abused women.”

He has promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of private email while she was top U.S. diplomat. “It would be great if someone with Donald Trump’s temperament were not in charge of the law in our country,” she said. “You would be in jail.””, replied the Republican.

Trump-Biden, September 29, 2020

This combination of images created on October 22, 2020 shows Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.  (Photo by Morry GASH and JIM WATSON / AFP).
This combination of images created on October 22, 2020 shows Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Morry GASH and JIM WATSON / AFP).

There were shouts and insults in the first debate of the 2020 presidential election, to which Donald Trump and Joe Biden aspired. Outgoing President Donald Trump keeps interrupting Joe Biden, who ends up blurting out: “Will you shut up, man?”

The Democrat also describes his opponent as “clown” and of “(Vladimir) Putin’s lapdog.” In a premonitory way, Donald Trump refuses to say whether he will recognize the result of the election.

Unable to put the two candidates in order, the moderator of the debate, Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, will confess that he was “desperate”.

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