GREENSBORO, N.C. — It’s time for a little history lesson!
Most people believe that the first televised presidential debate was between President John F. Kennedy and President Richard Nixon on CBS, however, the unofficial first one, actually dates back to 1956 on Face the Nation.
“You’re about to see the widow of the late democratic president, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the only woman to have ever been in both the house and the senate of the United States, Mrs. Margaret Chase Smith, face the nation with questions from veteran correspondents from the nation’s press," began the Face The Nation intro.
The two highly-respected women squared off on Face The Nation only two days before Election Day, each representing their respective candidate – Eleanor Roosevelt as a proxy for Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson, and Smith representing Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“The candidate on the Democratic ticket, Mr. Adali Stevenson, has suggested that the draft is obsolete!" Interjected Roosevelt.
“A democratic president together with our allies choose Dwight Eisenhower to lead our nation to victory in World War II," defended Sen. Smith.
The 30-minute debate focused heavily on foreign policy and the recent Suez Crisis in the Middle East which had occurred only a few days prior during the Cold War Era. One exchange between the two went as below:
Roosevelt - “Standing together with the dictator of Egypt and the communist Soviets is an odd situation to find the United States in!”
Smith - “Roosevelt, may I interrupt right there, I wonder why you’re saying we’re standing with the Kremlin and Egypt in this matter?”
Roosevelt - “Because there is no one in the UN standing with us!”
Smith - “Our policy has always been against aggression.”
So, who won the debate? Who argued policy better? Well, it all depends on who you asked and who watched it. One thing was for certain though, it paved the way for the modern day presidential debates.