The Sixties
Television Enters the Home
Experts weigh in on the entry of televisions into American homes and its effects on daily life and politics, including the Kennedy-Nixon debates.
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Video Transcript
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the TV was the center of the house
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I don't remember a time without TV
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I 1960 essentially every household in America had a television
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it was a new way of bringing the world to you
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when something big happened on television it really did happen to the entire country
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and impacted the entire country at the same time
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an awakened eye on the world suddenly television was the main event
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everything else changed
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even the way in which you went about the business of getting someone elected president
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David
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will you hit the one minute button please
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the 30 seconds
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and the cut please
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in 1960 the Nixon Kennedy debate
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was the first and television
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a lot of people were watching that night
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and introduce a lot of people
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to Kennedy
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hear me now speaking
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is that about the right tone of voice
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good evening
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the television and radio stations of the United States and their Affiliated stations
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are proud to provide when the Network's offered a debate
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Kennedy immediately said yes
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because he was sure
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he could do better than Nixon
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I think mr. Nixon is an effective leader of his party
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I hope he would grant me the same
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question before us is
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which point of view
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and which party do we want to leave the United States
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mr. Dixon would you like to comment on that statement
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I have no comment
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if you're live on television and there's a camera right here
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there's really no place to hide
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once you see a guy sweating
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when asked a question
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are you sure he's the leader for you
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that's the question before the American people and only you can decide
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what you want what you want this country to be
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what you want to do with the future
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I think we're ready to move
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if you saw it on television
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clearly Kennedy had won that debate
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gentlemen thank you very much for permitting us to present the next president of the United States on this unique program
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it was the beginning of a new form of
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political craftsmanship
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you can structure your message appropriately for the TV Camera you could have a huge impact and if you couldn't you were toast
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I would like you now to give a real tonight welcome to
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senator from Massachusetts mr. John
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Kennedy
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may I ask you
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so that I don't look too naive
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a tough question right off the bat
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whether I'm a Democrat or Republican
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people recognize the television was
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now the medium that mattered
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it wasn't before 1960 and it was every day after 1960 and those presidential debates
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everyone had a TV set in their living room
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and advertisers had fully gotten a grip on how effective this was a way to sell products
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the very definition of what you were doing
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was to create
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entertainment that would appeal to as many people as possible
