President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump will turn back the clock on Thursday as they square off on at least one front: the first presidential debate in 60 years to be held without an in-person audience.
The last time was in 1960, when Republican Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Massachusetts Democratic junior senator John F. Kennedy participated in the first televised presidential debate.
Their first meeting was memorable for the stark contrast in their appearances: Kennedy looked relaxed and sun-kissed, while Nixon, who had chosen not to wear makeup, looked pale and unshaven.
The telegenic Kennedy won the election after facing Nixon three more times, including an ABC debate that used split screens to allow his rivals to appear remotely from New York and Los Angeles.
There were no presidential debates for 16 years, and Lyndon B. Johnson and Nixon declined to participate in subsequent election cycles. When the debates resumed in 1976, they did so in front of an in-person audience. It was also the first time that a sitting president, Gerald R. Ford, participated in a televised debate.
The first debate with Democratic challenger and former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter took place before a live audience at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theater. Carter went on to defeat Ford.
Since then, every presidential debate has included an in-person audience, with Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump meeting twice during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The rivals were scheduled to debate three times that year, but the second debate was canceled after Trump disagreed with the remote format proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates for safety reasons.
This year, Mr. Biden’s team did not require an in-person audience to avoid cheering or booing that could disrupt the conversation. President Trump, who lives off the reactions of his supporters, implied that he wanted an audience, and criticized President Biden for being “afraid of crowds.” Nonetheless, President Trump agreed to CNN’s terms excluding the audience.
Some candidates gained a clear advantage from an in-person audience. For example, Bill Clinton used the 1992 town hall debate against President George H. W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot to his advantage in winning the presidency.
In May, Mr. Trump’s supporters cheered him on at a town hall event hosted by CNN. The broadcaster was criticized for the event, in part because of its friendly tone.
Peter Baker Contributed to the report.
