The close and exciting 1960 presidential race between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon launched the televised debate era as television's influence became increasingly pronounced in national politics as well as in American life in general.

It was estimated that 100 million Americans watched all or at least one of the four encounters between the nominees.  What happened in those debates changed the presidential landscape as Americans living throughout the nation got a chance to host the aspirants for president in the informal confines of their living rooms.

Youthful John Kennedy was a senator from Massachusetts not nearly as well known on the national or international stages as his better known rival Richard Nixon, who had served two terms under one of the nation's most popular presidents, Dwight Eisenhower.

Kennedy's handlers had lobbied for televised debates while Nixon spurned the advice of Eisenhower and decided that such exchanges could prove a game breaker for him in the way that Democrats believed that they could generate the opportunity for their candidate to jump into the lead.