Back in 1960, when the concept of live television was still unique and one where the United States had already grabbed a sizeable lead, the fledgling television networks of the nation tried something new — organise a debate between the candidates of the two parties. Back then it was John F Kennedy versus Richard Nixon and while today we think Kennedy won by a landslide, the 1960 election was controversial and close, a precursor to the problems that the US had in 2000 and 2016. Kennedy was the underdog and while he is today remembered as one of the most influential modern American Presidents, it was actually his performance in the televised debate where he came across as calm, confident and reassured the American public that his lack of political experience was not a challenge. Nixon, who had a slight fever on the day of the debate and was visibly sweating under the studio lights, was seen as lacking confidence. That debate set the political template in the US and while many other nations have tried the formula, few have managed to pull it off.

However, the debate between the current US President Donald Trump and his presumptive challenger Joe Biden, the former US Vice-President under Barack Obama, was an unmitigated disaster. If you can imagine two 70 plus-year-old men going at each other with a 50-year-old trying to control it, you kind of get the picture. This was not supposed to be a drawing room argument but it felt like one. Worse still, at times it felt like you were watching two panellists on a popular English news channel in India with stupid arguments learnt from Whatsapp. It made the world look on in horror at who will have his fingers on the world’s largest military arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons. Sure, Chris Wallace, the debate moderator, let control of the debate slip from his hands and allowed Trump the usage of the bully pulpit, but let us all be clear, while Trump did not lose the debate, nobody really won. Far from the class and style of debates, something like this might have put more people off proper debates and even democracy. In 60 years, the US has come a long way indeed.

Back in 1960, when the concept of live television was still unique and one where the United States had already grabbed a sizeable lead, the fledgling television networks of the nation tried something new — organise a debate between the candidates of the two parties. Back then it was John F Kennedy versus Richard Nixon and while today we think Kennedy won by a landslide, the 1960 election was controversial and close, a precursor to the problems that the US had in 2000 and 2016. Kennedy was the underdog and while he is today remembered as one of the most influential modern American Presidents, it was actually his performance in the televised debate where he came across as calm, confident and reassured the American public that his lack of political experience was not a challenge. Nixon, who had a slight fever on the day of the debate and was visibly sweating under the studio lights, was seen as lacking confidence. That debate set the political template in the US and while many other nations have tried the formula, few have managed to pull it off.

However, the debate between the current US President Donald Trump and his presumptive challenger Joe Biden, the former US Vice-President under Barack Obama, was an unmitigated disaster. If you can imagine two 70 plus-year-old men going at each other with a 50-year-old trying to control it, you kind of get the picture. This was not supposed to be a drawing room argument but it felt like one. Worse still, at times it felt like you were watching two panellists on a popular English news channel in India with stupid arguments learnt from Whatsapp. It made the world look on in horror at who will have his fingers on the world’s largest military arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons. Sure, Chris Wallace, the debate moderator, let control of the debate slip from his hands and allowed Trump the usage of the bully pulpit, but let us all be clear, while Trump did not lose the debate, nobody really won. Far from the class and style of debates, something like this might have put more people off proper debates and even democracy. In 60 years, the US has come a long way indeed.