United States Presidential Televised Debates of the 20th Century

This data collection contains the transcripts of United States presidential and vice presidential televised debates of the twentieth century. Face-to-face presidential debates in the twentieth century began their broadcast history in 1948 when Republicans Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen faced each other in a radio debate during the Oregon Republican presidential primary. Later, on May 21, 1956, Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver, rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, participated in a televised debate during the Florida Democratic primary. This data collection includes general election debates among candidates from 1960 to 1996.