Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

September 26th, 1960, 9.30pm.

The show Peter Gunn had just finished airing on NBC.

And then, 66 million Americans tuned in to watch a revolution in the process for selecting a president.

This is the M.D.P Television Network.

Good evening. The television and radio stations of the United States and their affiliated stations are proud to provide facilities for a discussion of issues in the current political campaign by the two major candidates for the presidency.

The candidates need no introduction. The Republican candidate, Vice President Richard M. Nixon.

Both for Nixon and large, November 8th.

And the Democratic candidate, Senator John F. Kennedy.

According to rules set by the candidates themselves, each man shall make an opening statement to the approximately 8 minutes duration on the call.

I'm Nick Kepp at E.J.

I'm Hannah McCartney.

And this is Civics 101, the podcast refresher course on the basics of how our democracy works.

And today we're talking about the relatively recent tradition of presidential debates.

When did they start?

Who decides how they're run?

Why do we do them? And what we should be looking for when we watch them?

Hannah, what is your first debate memory?

I would say it's more like an entire season of debates.

It was during the Obama McCain election of 2008.

And I knew that I would be turning 18 a couple of days after the election.

So I watched these debates with a great deal of pain in my heart because I knew I wouldn't actually be allowed to vote in that election.

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