Six decades of often animated confrontations, always eagerly awaited and followed, and sometimes decisive.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden meet this Tuesday evening for the first of the three debates that traditionally punctuate the last weeks of the American presidential campaign.
"It is a very important democratic moment, there must be a direct confrontation between the candidates", summarizes the historian specializing in the United States, Jean-Eric Branaa.
This "show" has become a key moment in the United States, sometimes to the point of overturning an election.
Sixty years ago almost to the day, on September 26, 1960, a young senator aged 43 appeared "tanned, confident, and well rested."
On the other side of the presenter stands a sweaty vice president with drawn features, giving the impression of being ill.
September 26, 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon before the debate. / John F. Kennedy Library Foundation / US National Archives via REUTERS
Sitting on small chairs in front of the cameras, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard Nixon clash before the eyes of 66.4 million viewers.
For the first time, a game is organized between the two contenders and broadcast live on television.
Nixon will pay for his lack of preparation at the polls and he will refuse any debate in the following polls, in 1968 and 1972.
Gerald Ford's gaffe
Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter at the first presidential debate in 1976. / Library of Congress / Thomas J. O'Halloran / via REUTERS
A debate can be lost on form, but also on substance.
In 1976, Gerald Ford was asked about the growing influence of the USSR in Europe.
The outgoing president responds haphazardly: “There is no Soviet domination in Eastern Europe and there never will be under the Ford administration.
[…] I do not believe that the Poles feel dominated by the Soviet Union.
This geopolitical incongruity allows Democrat Jimmy Carter to reduce his delay in the polls and then to impose himself on the wire.
"Everyone knows that in the event of a slippage, a misstep, or a bad answer, the whole campaign can suffer," sums up the former political adviser Frank Strauss
(Editor's note: quoted in the documentary "Duel for the White House : The major electoral campaigns ”)
.
In some years, applicants also participate in other TV show formats.
In 1992, the public can directly question George Bush and Bill Clinton.
The first does not stop looking at his watch and gives the impression of looking down on his interlocutors, when the second appears much more at ease.
President Jimmy Carter and the Governor of California in Cleveland in 1980./The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum / Handout via REUTERS
No need to bet on a failure in his opponent to win.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan attacked the record of Carter's first term by addressing the cameras: "Is it easier for you to do your shopping than it was four years ago?"
Is there more or less unemployment in this country than four years ago?
His formula hits the mark: for the first time in fifty years, Carter is the first president not to be reelected.
Reagan, a former Hollywood actor, retains his art of the punchline four years later, facing Walter Mondale.
Criticized for his high age (73 years against 56 for the Democrat), he retorts: "I will not exploit, for political ends, the youth and the inexperience of my adversary".
Even Mondale bursts out laughing.
Spontaneous punchlines?
"Nobody believes it"
These kinds of punchlines are often prepared in advance.
“Clinton always had a few good words in stock and I asked him if he had prepared them.
He replied:
Yes, of course
.
He is the only one to have recognized it.
I asked Reagan the same question.
He replied:
No, no, it was spontaneous
.
Nobody believes it ”, will amuse the journalist and host Jim Lehrer, a dozen debates to his credit.
The previous days, the candidates also drink technical sheets on the background and organize rehearsals with their advisers.
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Over the years, the space left for improvisation has also been greatly reduced.
“Today, everything has become very calibrated: the size of the desks, the chairs, the distance between the candidates, the themes mentioned.
It's completely crazy.
For Trump and Biden, hotel rooms are reserved to ensure that there are no more supporters from one camp or the other, ”explains Jean-Eric Branaa.
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Under these conditions, be careful not to overestimate the electoral impact of the traditional debate.
The audiences of the first televised debate (there are usually two or three), moreover dulled at the end of the 20th century, according to data from Nielson Media Research.
In 2016, Donald Trump at the microphone while Hillary Clinton walks on the set./AFP/Paul J. RICHARDS
But they started to rise again since the early 2000s, until the record reached four years ago. On September 26, 2016, 84 million Americans were staring at the verbal clash between former reality host Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Not to mention the millions of Internet users who have followed, dissected, and commented live on social networks, the great novelty of recent years. The current president, who spends part of his days connected to the conservative Fox News channel, has himself made Twitter his preferred communication channel.
