United States presidential debates

A **United States presidential debate** is held every four years, and is only held close to a United States presidential election. Its topics include controversial topics, economics, inflation, and immigration, most of which are organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) since 1988, with the exception of 2024, when former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and incumbent president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden criticized and rejected the CPD's schedule and date, and instead debated on CNN and ABC, after President Biden withdrew from the election, Vice President Kamala Harris replaced him and was nominated by the Democratic Party, debating on ABC.

### 1960 debates

The first debate for the 1960 U.S. presidential election attracted more than 66 million viewers out of a total population of 179 million, making it one of the most watched broadcasts in American television history.

### 1980 debates

The 1980 debates for the 1980 U.S. presidential election drew 80 million viewers out of a national population of 226 million, making it one of the highest-rated presidential televised debates until 2016.

### 2016 debates

The 2016 presidential debate between then-Republican candidate Donald Trump and Secretary of State and also Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton attracted an audience of more than 84 million out of a then-327 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched presidential debate ever, beating the record set in 1980.

## List

**Notes:**

- D = Democratic
- R = Republican
- I = Independent
- * = Incumbent president at that time.
- ** = Incumbent vice president at that time.

|Election|Debate|**Presidential debates**|Sponsor|colspan="2"|Location|Moderators|Television Viewership|Source||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="4"|1960|First debate|Richard Nixon (R) John F. Kennedy (D)|rowspan="4"|ABC, CBS, and NBC|WBBM-TV studios|Chicago, Illinois|Howard K. Smith of CBS|66.4 million|rowspan="4"||
|Second debate|Richard Nixon (R) John F. Kennedy (D)|WRC-TV studios|Washington, D.C.|Frank McGee of NBC|61.9 million|||||||
|Third debate|Richard Nixon (R) John F. Kennedy (D)|colspan="2"|Split-screen telecast with Nixon and panelists in ABC studios in Los Angeles and Kennedy in ABC studios in New York|Bill Shadel of ABC|63.7 million|||||||
|Fourth debate|Richard Nixon (R) John F. Kennedy (D)|ABC studios|New York City, New York|Quincy Howe of ABC|60.4 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|1976|First debate|Gerald Ford*(R) Jimmy Carter(D)|rowspan="9"|League of Women Voters|Walnut Street Theater|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Edwin Newman of NBC|69.7 million|rowspan="4"||
|Second debate|Gerald Ford*(R) Jimmy Carter(D)|Palace of Fine Arts|San Francisco, California|Pauline Frederick of NPR|63.9 million|||||||
|VP Debate|Bob Dole (R) Walter Mondale (D)|Alley Theatre|Houston, Texas|James Hoge of the _Chicago Sun-Times_|43.2 million|||||||
|Third debate|Gerald Ford*(R) Jimmy Carter(D)|Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at W&M|Williamsburg, Virginia|Barbara Walters of ABC|62.7 million|||||||
|rowspan="2"|1980|First debate|Ronald Reagan (R) John B. Anderson (I)|Baltimore Convention Center|Baltimore, Maryland|Bill Moyers of PBS||rowspan="2"||||
|Second debate|Jimmy Carter* (D) Ronald Reagan (R)|Public Music Hall|Cleveland, Ohio|Howard K. Smith of ABC|80.6 million|||||||
|rowspan="3"|1984|First debate|Ronald Reagan* (R) Walter Mondale (D)|Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts|Louisville, Kentucky|Barbara Walters of ABC|65.1 million|rowspan="3"||||
|VP debate|George H. W. Bush** (R) Geraldine Ferraro (D)|Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Sander Vanocur of ABC|56.7 million|||||||
|Second debate|Ronald Reagan* (R) Walter Mondale (D)|Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium|Kansas City, Missouri|Edwin Newman|67.3 million|||||||
|rowspan="3"|1988|First debate|George H. W. Bush** (R) Michael Dukakis (D)|rowspan="34"|Commission on Presidential Debates|Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University|Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Jim Lehrer of PBS|65.1 million|rowspan="3"||
|VP debate|Dan Quayle (R) Lloyd Bentsen (D)|Omaha Civic Auditorium|Omaha, Nebraska|Judy Woodruff of PBS|46.9 million|||||||
|Second debate|George H. W. Bush** (R) Michael Dukakis (D)|Pauley Pavilion at UCLA|Los Angeles, California|Bernard Shaw of CNN|67.3 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|1992|First debate|George H. W. Bush* (R) Bill Clinton (D) Ross Perot (I)|Field House at Washington University in St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri|Jim Lehrer of PBS|62.4 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Dan Quayle** (R) Al Gore (D) James Stockdale (I)|Theater for the Arts at Georgia Tech|Atlanta, Georgia|Hal Bruno of ABC|51.2 million|||||||
|Second debate|George H. W. Bush* (R) Bill Clinton (D) Ross Perot (I)|Robins Center at University of Richmond|Richmond, Virginia|Carole Simpson of ABC|69.9 million|||||||
|Third debate|George H. W. Bush* (R) Bill Clinton (D) Ross Perot (I)|Wharton Center for Performing Arts at MSU|East Lansing, Michigan|Jim Lehrer of PBS|66.9 million|||||||
|rowspan="3"|1996|First debate|Bill Clinton* (D) Bob Dole (R)|Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts|Hartford, Connecticut|rowspan="3"|Jim Lehrer of PBS|46.1 million|rowspan="3"|||
|VP debate|Al Gore** (D) Jack Kemp (R)|Mahaffey Theater|St. Petersburg, Florida|26.6 million||||||||
|Second debate|Bill Clinton* (D) Bob Dole (R)|Shiley Theater at University of San Diego|San Diego, California|36.3 million||||||||
|rowspan="4"|2000|First debate|Al Gore** (D) George W. Bush (R)|Clark Athletic Center at University of Massachusetts|Boston, Massachusetts|Jim Lehrer of PBS|46.6 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Joe Lieberman (D) Dick Cheney (R)|Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College|Danville, Kentucky|Bernard Shaw of CNN|28.5 million|||||||
|Second debate|Al Gore** (D) George W. Bush (R)|Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University|Winston-Salem, North Carolina|rowspan="2"|Jim Lehrer of PBS|37.5 million||||||
|Third debate|Al Gore** (D) George W. Bush (R)|Field House at Washington University in St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri|37.7 million||||||||
|rowspan="4"|2004|First debate|George W. Bush* (R) John Kerry (D)|Convocation Center at University of Miami|Coral Gables, Florida|Jim Lehrer of PBS|62.4 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Dick Cheney**(R) John Edwards (D)|Veale Center at Case Western Reserve University|Cleveland, Ohio|Gwen Ifill of PBS|43.5 million|||||||
|Second debate|George W. Bush* (R) John Kerry (D)|Washington University in St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri|Charles Gibson of ABC|46.7 million|||||||
|Third debate|George W. Bush* (R) John Kerry (D)|Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium at ASU|Tempe, Arizona|Bob Schieffer of CBS|51.1 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|2008|First debate|John McCain (R) Barack Obama (D)|University of Mississippi|Oxford, Mississippi|Jim Lehrer of PBS|52.4 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Sarah Palin (R) Joe Biden (D)|Washington University in St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri|Gwen Ifill of PBS|69.9 million|||||||
|Second debate|John McCain (R) Barack Obama (D)|Belmont University|Nashville, Tennessee|Tom Brokaw of NBC|63.2 million|||||||
|Third debate|John McCain (R) Barack Obama (D)|Hofstra University|Hempstead, New York|Bob Schieffer of CBS|56.5 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|2012|First debate|Barack Obama* (D) Mitt Romney (R)|University of Denver|Denver, Colorado|Jim Lehrer of PBS|67.2 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Joe Biden** (D) Paul Ryan (R)|Centre College|Danville, Kentucky|Martha Raddatz of ABC|51.4 million|||||||
|Second debate|Barack Obama* (D) Mitt Romney (R)|Hofstra University|Hempstead, New York|Candy Crowley of CNN|65.6 million|||||||
|Third debate|Barack Obama* (D) Mitt Romney (R)|Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University|Boca Raton, Florida|Bob Schieffer of CBS|59.2 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|2016|First debate|Hillary Clinton (D) Donald Trump (R)|Hofstra University|Hempstead, New York|Lester Holt of NBC|84 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Tim Kaine (D) Mike Pence (R)|Longwood University|Farmville, Virginia|Elaine Quijano of CBS|36 million|||||||
|Second debate|Hillary Clinton (D) Donald Trump (R)|Washington University in St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri|Anderson Cooper of CNN Martha Raddatz of ABC|66.5 million|||||||
|Third debate|Hillary Clinton (D) Donald Trump (R)|Thomas & Mack Center at University of Nevada, Las Vegas|Paradise, Nevada|Chris Wallace of Fox|71.6 million|||||||
|rowspan="4"|2020|First debate|Donald Trump* (R) Joe Biden (D)|Health Education Campus Samson Pavilion|Cleveland, Ohio|Chris Wallace of Fox|73.1 million|rowspan="4"||||
|VP debate|Mike Pence* (R) Kamala Harris (D)|Kingsbury Hall at University of Utah|Salt Lake City, Utah|Susan Page of _USA Today_|57.9 million|||||||
|_Second debate_|_Donald Trump* (R)_ _Joe Biden (D)_|_~~Arsht Center~~_|~~_Miami, Florida_~~|_Steve Scully of C-SPAN_|**Debate cancelled**|||||||
|Third debate|Donald Trump* (R) Joe Biden (D)|Belmont University|Nashville, Tennessee|Kristen Welker of NBC|63 million|||||||
|rowspan="3"|2024|First debate|Joe Biden* (D) Donald Trump (R)|rowspan="3"|CNN, ABC, CBS (for VP debate)|Techwood Turner Campus, Studio D|Atlanta, Georgia|Jake Tapper of CNN Dana Bash of CNN|51.3 million|rowspan="3"||
|Second debate|Kamala Harris**(D) Donald Trump (R)|National Constitution Center|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|David Muir of ABC Linsey Davis of ABC|67.1 million|||||||
|VP debate|Tim Walz (D) JD Vance (R)|CBS Broadcast Center|New York City, New York|Margaret Brennan of CBS Norah O'Donnell of CBS|43 million|||||||