Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy during the last of their four debates in 1960. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) ...

Democrat John F. Kennedy, the handsome young Massachusetts senator, looked tan and relaxed. Republican Richard Nixon, who had been sick and in the hospital, looked hollow-eyed and had a five o ...

One photo shows the Sept. 26, 1960, debate between then-Vice President Richard Nixon and then-Sen. John F. Kennedy from behind the cameras and lights used in the first-ever televised clash.

Sen. John Kennedy, left, and Vice President Richard Nixon prepare for the first televised presidential debate on Sept. 26, 1960. John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debate in September 1960, as seen ...

One advantage of being old is that you have a long memory. I still remember the first televised Presidential debate in 1960 between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. There were some policy issues ...

Ford was honored for pardoning former President Richard Nixon in 1974, while Lewis was given the first ever JFK "lifetime achievement award" for his civil rights work. JRB/RCS ...

The sprawling Tudor manor in tony Wesley Heights is where Richard M. Nixon is believed to have written the famous "Checkers" speech that saved his candidacy for vice president.

Article continues below this ad That, at least, is conventional wisdom about the Kennedy-Nixon debate of Sept. 26, 1960: Image prevailed, rewarding Kennedy and punishing Nixon.

Ford was honored for pardoning former President Richard Nixon in 1974, while Lewis was given the first ever JFK "lifetime achievement award" for his civil rights work. JRB/RCS More ...