1980 United States presidential debates
September 26–October 28, 1980
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter
(Second debate)		 Ronald Reagan John B. Anderson (First debate)
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Home state Georgia California Illinois
Running mate Walter Mondale George H. W. Bush Patrick Lucey

The 1980 United States presidential debates were a series of debates held for the presidential election. The League of Women Voters organized two presidential debates: the first on September 21, 1980, and the second on October 28, 1980. The second presidential debate is the second most-watched debate in American history.

The Republican nominee Ronald Reagan participated in both debates. Independent candidate John B. Anderson only participated in the first debate, while the Democratic nominee and incumbent President Jimmy Carter participated in the second debate.

League of Women Voters-sponsored debates

Negotiations

The tentative schedule for the debates, reported in August 1980, was as follows:[1]

The 1980 election featured a major third-party candidate, John B. Anderson. The League of Women Voters allowed for Anderson to participate in the debate if he polled above 15%.[2]

The Carter campaign, believing that a three-way debate between Carter, Reagan, and Anderson would boost Anderson's campaign, tried to push for an earlier debate only featuring Carter and Reagan[2] This plan was supported by the chairs of the Democratic and Republican National Committee.[3] The two-person debate did not materialize, and Carter declined to debate alongside Anderson.[4]

The Vice Presidential debate was cancelled on September 29, days before it was scheduled to be held. George H. W. Bush and Walter Mondale refused to attend, leaving only Anderson's running mate Patrick Lucey accepting the invitation.[5]

Debate list

1980 United States presidential election debates
 No.Date and timeHostLocationModeratorParticipants
Key:
 P   Participant   N   Non-invitee   A   Absent invitee 		 Democratic Republican Independent
President
Jimmy Carter
of Georgia		 Former Governor
Ronald Reagan
of California		 Congressman
John B. Anderson
of Illinois
1  Sunday, September 21, 1980

10:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT[6]

 Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, Maryland Bill Moyers A P P
2  Tuesday, October 28, 1980

9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EST[6]

 Music Hall Cleveland, Ohio Howard K. Smith P P N
1980 United States vice presidential debate
 No.Date and timeHostLocationModeratorParticipants
Key:
 P  Participant.    I  Invitee.    N  Non-invitee.   		Democratic Republican Independent
Vice President
Walter Mondale
of Minnesota		 Former Director
George H. W. Bush
of Texas		 Former Ambassador
Patrick Lucey
of Wisconsin

VP
 		 Thursday, October 2, 1980
cancelled[7]		 Commonwealth Convention Center Louisville, Kentucky n/a N N P

First presidential debate (Baltimore Convention Center)

First presidential debate
Date(s)September 21, 1980 (1980-09-21)
VenueBaltimore Convention Center
LocationBaltimore, Maryland
ParticipantsJohn B. Anderson
Ronald Reagan
FootageRonald Reagan Presidential Library
Congressman John B. Anderson
Illinois
Former Governor Ronald Reagan
California

The first presidential debate was held on September 21 at the Baltimore Convention Center. The three invitees were Jimmy Carter, John B. Anderson and Ronald Reagan, though Carter refused to attend due to the presence of Anderson.[8][9]

Following a strong performance by Reagan, Anderson's poll numbers began to drop; he would not be invited to the second debate.[8]

Format

The debate started at 10:00 p.m. EDT, and lasted for one hour.[10] Anderson and Reagan both received six questions.[11] They were given two and a half minutes to answer each question, as well as one minute and 15 seconds to rebut. Closing statements could be as long as three minutes.[10]

Second presidential debate (Music Hall)

Second presidential debate
Date(s)October 28, 1980 (1980-10-28)
VenueMusic Hall
LocationCleveland, Ohio
ParticipantsJimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
FootageRonald Reagan Presidential Library
C-SPAN
CNN
President Jimmy Carter
Georgia
Former Governor Ronald Reagan
California

The second debate was held on October 28 in Cleveland, Ohio's Music Hall. The debate was held only a week before Election Day.[8]

Carter and Reagan were the only invitees.[8] CNN attempted to include Anderson from the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. CNN's Daniel Schorr read the same questions to Anderson. They then aired Anderson's live responses along with tape delay of Carter and Reagan's responses,[12][13] despite technical difficulties.[14]

Reagan's most notable moments include using the phrase "There you go again" and asking whether or not Americans were better off than they were four years ago.[8]

In 1983, Reagan's team came under fire for having access to Carter's internal debate briefing materials.[15]

Format

The second presidential debate started at 9:30 p.m. EST, and lasted for 90 minutes.[10] The debate consisted of two halves, and panelists were only allowed to offer follow-ups in the first half. Candidates Carter and Reagan both received the same 12 questions[16] and the ability to rebut twice for one minute each.[10]

Viewership

Nielsen Media Research states that the second presidential debate garnered 80.6 million viewers.[10][17] It was the most-watched debate in American history until the first presidential debate of 2016.[18]

Reaction

An unscientific televote poll carried out by ABC immediately after the debate received about 650,000 responses, two thirds in favor of Reagan.[19][20]

Other debates

A minor party debate was held by the New York Committee for Marxist Education on October 9. The debate was moderated by Bill Henning, and attended by representatives of Communist Party USA, Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Party U.S.A., Citizens Party, and Workers World Party. The only candidate to attend in person was Workers World's Deirdre Griswold.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Bitzer, Lloyd F.; Rueter, Theodore (August 24, 1980). "The 1980 Debates". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Presidential Debate Plan Appears to Be in Jeopardy". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 24, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  3. ↑ Clymer, Adam (August 25, 2020). "G.O.P Joins Carter Plea for Debate Without Anderson; League's Plans in Doubt Important to Anderson". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  4. ↑ Smith, Hedrick (September 10, 1980). "Carter Declines to Debate After Anderson Is Invited". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Voters League Cancels Vice-Presidential Debate". The New York Times. September 30, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "CPD: 1980 Debates". www.debates.org. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  7. ↑ "League sends debate tickets as souvenirs". The Courier-Journal. October 29, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "1980 Presidential Debates". CNN. 1996. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Carter Bars Debate With Anderson". The Washington Post. May 28, 1980. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "1980 Debates". Commission on Presidential Debates. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ "September 21, 1980 Debate Transcript". Commission on Presidential Debates. September 21, 1980. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  12. ↑ Shipp, Randy (October 27, 1980). "Anderson to debate, too, via cable-TV network". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  13. ↑ Weaver Jr., Warren (October 29, 1980). "A CARTER 'FLIP-FLOP' IS SEEN BY ANDERSON; Responding to 2 Debaters' Views, He Says on Cable TV That Tax Cuts Are 'Irresponsible' Carter's Earlier Position Repeating Charges of Past Service in World War II". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ Schroeder, Alan (June 2016). Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail. Columbia University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-231-54150-3.
  15. ↑ Kondracke, Morton (July 17, 1983). "Debategate". The New Republic. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ "October 28, 1980 Debate Transcript". Commission on Presidential Debates. October 28, 1980. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Highest Rated Presidential Debates 1960 To Present". Nielsen. October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  18. ↑ Kennedy, Merrit (September 27, 2016). "Clinton-Trump Showdown Was The Most-Watched Presidential Debate Ever". NPR. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  19. ↑ O'Connor, John J. (October 30, 1980). "TV: Instant Poll Steals Post-Debate Scene". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  20. ↑ Lanoue, Daniel J. (1992). "One That Made a Difference: Cognitive Consistency, Political Knowledge, and the 1980 Presidential Debate". Public Opinion Quarterly. 56 (2): 168–184. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  21. ↑ Dionne Jr., E. J. (October 12, 1980). "5 Parties of the Left Conduct a Presidential Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
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