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Americans have a certain distrust of advertising, which does not always mean they are immune to its claims. It does mean they at least try to take the message of advertising in a skeptical frame of mind. We seem to know instinctively that television has shaped the message in a unique fashion, though we may be less aware of the way television has influenced and reshaped such events as presidential debates. An examination of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the nineteenth century and more recent presidential debates beginning with those between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy shows that the process has changed

The two most famous series of campaign debates in history were those of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, conducted on the campaign trail before relatively small audiences, and those between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon on television in front of millions of people. Certain similarities between the two sets of debates can be noted in terms of the reasons for them and their consequences. Lincoln was the underdog in the senatorial campaign and wanted to share in the fame of Stephen Douglas by appearing on the platform with him, much as Kennedy would hope

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