The United States presidential election debates were held during the 1976 presidential election. Three debates were held between Republican candidate, incumbent president Gerald Ford and former Democratic governor Jimmy Carter, the major candidates. One debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, Bob Dole and Walter Mondale.
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The vice presidential debate was held on October 15 at the Alley Theatre. The presidential debates were held on September 23 at the Walnut Street Theater, October 6 at the Palace of Fine Arts and on October 22 at the College of William & Mary, ahead of the November 7 Election Day. All of the debates were sponsored by the League of Women Voters. In each of the debates, the candidates received questions in turn with three minutes to answer and a 60-second rebuttal.
In 1976 only the two candidates from the major political parties, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, were invited. As a result, only Bob Dole and Walter Mondale met the criteria for the vice presidential debate.
1976 United States presidential election debates | |||||||||||||||
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No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
Key: P Participant |
Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
President Gerald Ford of Michigan |
Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia | ||||||||||||||
1 |
Thursday, September 23, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT[1] |
Walnut Street Theater | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Edwin Newman | P | P | |||||||||
2 |
Wednesday, October 6, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT[1] |
Palace of Fine Arts | San Francisco, California | Pauline Frederick | P | P | |||||||||
3 |
Friday, October 22, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT[1] |
College of William & Mary | Williamsburg, Virginia | Barbara Walters | P | P | |||||||||
1976 United States vice presidential debate | |||||||||||||||
No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
Key: P Participant |
Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
Senator Bob Dole of Kansas |
Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota | ||||||||||||||
VP |
Friday, October 15, 1976 9:30 – 10:45 p.m. EDT[1] |
Alley Theatre | Houston, Texas | James Hoge | P | P |
Three presidential debates were scheduled by the League of Women Voters:
One vice-presidential debate was held:
First presidential debate | |
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Date(s) | September 23, 1976 |
Venue | Walnut Street Theater |
Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Participants | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
Moderator(s) | Edwin Newman of NBC |
The Debate was held in the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Edwin Newman of NBC moderated the debate. A panel consisting of Elizabeth Drew, Frank Reynolds and James Gannon posed questions to the candidates.
This was the first presidential debate in 16 years. 81 minutes into the broadcast of the 90 minute debate, the sound was lost and the debate was paused for 27 minutes before the problem was fixed and the debate could resume.[2]
An estimated 69.7 million viewers tuned into the debates.
Second presidential debate | |
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Date(s) | October 6, 1976 |
Venue | Palace of Fine Arts |
Location | San Francisco, California |
Participants | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
Moderator(s) | Pauline Frederick of NPR |
The debate was held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California
Pauline Frederick of NPR posed the questions for each candidate. The debate is infamous for President Ford's gaffe, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration."[3]
An estimated 63.9 million viewers tuned into the debate.
Vice presidential debate | |
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Date(s) | October 15, 1976 |
Venue | Alley Theatre |
Location | Houston, Texas |
Participants | Bob Dole Walter Mondale |
Moderator(s) | James Hoge of Chicago Sun Times |
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The vice presidential debate was held in the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. It was the first vice presidential debate in American history.[4][5]
James Hoge of Chicago Sun Times posed the questions for each candidate.
An estimated 43.2 million viewers tuned into the debate.
Third presidential debate | |
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Date(s) | October 22, 1976 |
Venue | Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at the College of William & Mary |
Location | Williamsburg, Virginia. |
Participants | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
Moderator(s) | Barbara Walters of ABC |
The Debate was held in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Barbara Walters of ABC posed the questions for each candidate.
An estimated 62.7 million viewers tuned into the debates.