Great TV News Stories 6 - The Great Debates: John F. Kennedy Vs Richard M. Nixon

Synopsis

Extracts of the four 1960 television debates between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, compiled from original ABC news broadcasts. The first debate on 29/9/60 in Chicago covered domestic issues and the other three foreign policy issues.his debate was confined to a discussion of domestic issues. In the first debate each candidate makes opening remarks, each of the four interviewing correspondants introduce themselves, and the candidates discuss Mr. Kennedy’s ability to govern in light of his age and experience as well as President Eisenhower’s famous quip regarding Mr. Nixon’s contributions to Eisenhower’s presidential policies. They go on to discuss domestic economic and social spending, the internal communist threat, and each candidate’s summation speech.
The second debate took place in Washington DC, on 7/10/60 and particularly addressed Cuba’s move into the communist block; whether or not to apologize for the Francis Powers U2 incident; and the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, islands which mainland Chinese forces had tried for years to seize from the nationalist forces of Chaing Kai-shek’s Republic of China (Taiwan, referred to as "Formosa").
The third debate took place with Kennedy in New York City and Nixon in Los Angeles on 13.10. They continued to address Quemoy and Matsu; Berlin; political endorsements by Adam Clayton Powell and the Ku Klux Klan; and legislation regulating the power of labor unions.
The fourth debate took place in New York City on 21/10/60 and the candidates addressed Cuba; the prestige of America abroad; and nuclear testing. Oliver Stone & crew chose to use video of Kennedy’s Cuban statements in this debate in his motion picture "Nixon", depicting Kennedy’s remarks as deliberately violating national security in disregard of CIA director Dulles’ briefing of Kennedy regarding American anti-Castro activities.

Language

English

Country

United States

Year of release

2002

Year of production

1960

Availability

out of distribution

Notes

Extracts from the first debate are also available on DVD from www.earthstation1.com/Nixon_Kennedy_Debates.html

Subjects

Politics & government

Keywords

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald; Nixon, Richard Milhous; political debate; United States of America

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 0

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

52 minutes

Year

2002

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Availability

Sale

Sponsor

Name

ABC News

Distributor

Name

amazon.com

Web

http://www.amazon.com External site opens in new window