 "Gaffes, wit and zingers: Recalling historic moments from US presidential debates")
American presidential debates are crucial for candidates. Their every word and action can sway voters and shape electoral outcomes. From Ronald Reagan’s witty responses to Joe Biden’s direct challenges, these televised events have produced moments that resonate through history.
“Debates, being live television events, without a script, without anyway of knowing how they are going to evolve — anything can happen,” Alan Schroeder, author of ‘Presidential Debates: 50 years of High-Risk, TV told AP.
As the nation will witness another debate drama between President Biden and former President Trump today, here’s a revisit of some of the standout moments from presidential debates over the years.
The age-old question
When everyone knows a sensitive question is coming yet you make the answer sound spontaneous, you’re having a good debate.
In the 1984 presidential debates, Republican President Ronald Reagan, then 73 and seeking re-election against Walter Mondale, turned around a lacklustre start with a memorable moment.
In his first debate, Reagan struggled to remember facts and occasionally looked befuddled. One of his top advisers, Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt, suggested afterward that aides “filled his head with so many facts and figures that he lost his spontaneity."
Learning the lesson, Reagan’s team opted for a less scripted approach for the second debate with Mondale.
And, when Reagan got a question about his mental and physical stamina that he had to know was coming, he was ready enough to make the response feel unplanned.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“You already are the oldest president in history,” said moderator Henry Trewhitt before asking whether Reagan might not be able to handle a challenge like the Cuban missile crisis.
“Not at all,” Reagan responded smoothly, defending his crisis management skills. He continued, “I want you to know that, also, I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Then, capitalising on years of Hollywood-honed comedic training, the president took a sip of water, giving the audience and even Mondale, who himself cracked up, more time to laugh.
Finally, he smiled and left little doubt that he’d rehearsed a response, “It was Seneca, or it was Cicero, I don’t know which, that said, ‘If it was not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state,’” he added.
Years later, Mondale acknowledged TV viewers saw him laughing, “I think, if you come in close, you’ll see some tears coming down because I knew he had gotten me there. That was really the end of my campaign that night."
Reagan’s ability to navigate sensitive questions with wit and grace remains a lesson in political rhetoric, resonating even today as much older candidates like Biden, 81, and Trump, 73, enter the electoral arena.
Carter vs Reagan: ‘There You Go Again’
Reagan is also remembered for using a light touch to neutralize criticisms from Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a 1980 Presidential debate.
When Carter accused him of wanting to cut Medicare, Reagan rebuked, “There you go again.” The line worked so well that he turned it into something of a trademark rejoinder going ahead.
Ford’s Soviet slip
During his second debate against Carter in 1976, Republican President Gerald Ford had a memorable moment-not in a good way.
The president boldly declared, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.”
With Moscow controlling much of that part of the world, moderator Max Frankel responded, “I’m sorry, wha..?” and asked if he’d understood correctly. Ford stood by his statement, leading to significant backlash and days spent on the campaign trail trying to mitigate the fallout. Ultimately, Ford’s remarks somewhere contributed to his electoral defeat that November.
“The closer the election, the more zingers and important debate lines can matter,” Aaron Kall, director of the debate program at the University of Michigan told AP. “Not just on who won, or who lost, but how does it affect fundraising, how does it impact the media cycle in coming days and weeks,” he added.
Obama vs Hillary
During the 2008 Democratic presidential primary debate, then-Senator Barack Obama responded dismissively to Hillary Clinton, saying, “You’re likable enough, Hillary.” This comment sparked criticism, but Obama was able to recover from the backlash.
Perry’s Oops moment
Unlike Obama, the 2012 presidential bid of then-Texas Governor Rick Perry faced a different fate.
Despite numerous attempts and excruciatingly prolonged pauses, Perry struggled to recall the third federal agency he had pledged to eliminate if elected. Finally, he awkwardly admitted, “Oops.”
The Energy Department was the agency he had forgotten.
Dukakis and the death penalty
In the second presidential debate of 1988, CNN anchor Bernard Shaw posed a challenging question to Democrat Michael Dukakis, then the governor of Massachusetts, regarding his stance against capital punishment, invoking the candidate’s wife.
Shaw asked, “If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” Dukakis responded calmly, stating, “I don’t see any evidence that it’s a deterrent.”
Reflecting later, Dukakis expressed regret that he had not emphasised that his wife “is the most precious thing, she and my family, that I have in this world.”
Quayle vs Bentsen: ‘You’re no Jack Kennedy’
The 1988 vice presidential debate also featured one of the best-remembered, pre-planned one-liners.
When Dan Quayle, the Republican vice presidential nominee and Indiana senator, compared himself to John F. Kennedy while debating Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the Democrat was ready. He’d studied Quayle’s campaigning and seen him invoke Kennedy in the past.
“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy,” Bentsen began slowly and deliberately, drawing out the moment. “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
The audience erupted in applause and laughter. Quayle was left to stare straight ahead. Quayle and George H.W. Bush easily won the 1988 election.
Blunders without words
During a pivotal 1992 debate, President Bush’s momentary glance at his watch, while Democrat Bill Clinton engaged with an audience member, became a defining image. Many interpreted this act as a sign of disinterest and detachment, which contributed to the perception of Bush as aloof and bored. This gesture ultimately played a role in his electoral defeat that year.
In another instance of a nonverbal debate miscue, then-Democratic Vice President Al Gore was criticised for a subpar opening 2000 debate performance with Republican George W Bush in which he repeatedly and very audibly sighed.
During their second, town hall-style debate, Gore moved so close to Bush while the Republican answered one question that Bush finally looked over and offered a confident nod, drawing laughter from the audience.
A similar moment occurred in 2016, as Hillary Clinton faced the audience to answer questions during her second debate with Trump. The Republican candidate moved in close behind her, narrowed his eyes and glared.
Clinton showed no visible reaction then, but later wrote of the incident, “He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.”
Biden vs Trump
The match-up marks the first time a sitting president debated a former one.
In history, incumbents can struggle in opening debates, accustomed to White House advisers who rarely challenge them. In 2012, President Obama’s initially detached debate performance against Mitt Romney allowed the Republican to gain momentum.
Romney had his own misstep in the second debate. When asked about gender pay equity, he mentioned seeking help from women’s groups to find qualified female candidates, stating, “They brought us whole binders full of women.” Obama seized on this at subsequent rallies, humorously remarking, “We don’t have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women.”
If Biden’s debate skills are rusty this time, his opponent’s might be as well. Trump skipped all GOP primary debates, not participating in one since facing Biden twice in 2020.
Trump interrupted so frequently when they first debated four years ago that Biden eventually cried out, “Will you shut up, man?” — a visceral moment if there ever was one. Trump is remembered that night for instructing members of the far-right Proud Boys group from the stage to “stand back and stand by.” Some members of the extremist group took it as a sign of encouragement.
In the second Biden-Trump debate of 2020, mic cuts were used to curb interruptions, making it less chaotic. Biden expressed his eagerness for the race, stating, “I am anxious to have this race. I’m anxious to see this take place.”
And now, it’s happening again.
With inputs from AP
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