From exciting to terrifying: Memorable moments from past presidential debates

Here are some of the highs, lows, and unexpected twists from past presidential debates.

Biden messed up

Although it is still fresh on the national agenda, the debate between President Joe Biden and Trump in Atlanta in June may go down in history as the most influential political showdown.

Biden, 81, took the stage, cleared his throat frequently, said $15 when in his initial response he meant his administration had helped lower the price of insulin to $35 a month, and inexplicably gave Trump a chance to jump in early on the chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Things got worse for the president in the 12th minute, when Biden completely lost his train of thought.

“Well, uh — I apologize, with COVID, uh, with everything we have to deal with, uh … if … Look …” Biden stuttered before concluding that “we finally beat Medicare.” He meant that his administration had successfully taken on “big pharma,” some of the nation’s largest prescription drug companies.

Biden at first blamed a cold, then suggested he was overpreparing. Later, he pointed to jetlag after a pre-debate trip abroad.

In the frantic hours immediately following the debate, a Biden campaign spokesman said, “Of course he’s not withdrawing.” That was true until 28 days later, when the president did just that, withdrawing on July 21 and endorsing Harris.

Age question

Biden was asked his age in Atlanta and argued with Trump about golf. It was the exact opposite of knowing a sensitive question was coming and still having the answer come naturally — a feat President Ronald Reagan accomplished during the second presidential debate in 1984 when he delivered a line that will be remembered for the ages.

Reagan was 73 years old and facing 56-year-old Democratic opponent Walter Mondale. In the first debate, Reagan had difficulty remembering facts and occasionally appeared confused. An adviser later suggested that his aides “crammed so many facts and figures into his head that he lost his spontaneity.”

So Reagan’s team took a more hands-off approach to the second debate. When Reagan got a question about his mental and physical stamina, which he should have known was coming, he was so prepared that the answer felt unscripted.

Asked if her age would prevent her from taking on big challenges, Raegan replied, “Not at all,” then went on to say, “I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I will not exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience for political purposes.” The audience, and even Mondale, laughed.

Then the president, drawing on his years of Hollywood comedy training, took a sip of water and gave the crowd more time to laugh. Finally, he grinned and added, leaving little doubt that he had rehearsed it, “It was Seneca or Cicero, I don’t know which, who said, ‘If the old did not correct the young, there would be no government.'”

Years later, Mondale admitted, “That night was actually the end of my campaign.”

Reagan is also remembered for using a light touch to neutralize criticism from Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a 1980 debate. When Carter accused him of wanting to cut Medicare, Reagan rebuked, “There you go again.”

This sentence worked so well that he later turned it into his own unique response sentence.

Lots of blunders

In 1976, Republican President Gerald Ford had a notable moment in a debate against Carter, and it was not a good one. The president declared that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under Ford.”

Since Moscow controls much of that part of the world, the bewildered moderator asked if he had understood correctly. Ford stood by his answer, then spent days on the campaign trail trying to explain it. He lost in November.

Another awkward moment came in 2012, when GOP candidate Mitt Romney was asked a debate question about gender pay equity and recalled soliciting women’s groups to find qualified female candidates for state office: “They brought us folders full of women.”

Aaron Kall, director of the University of Michigan’s debate program, said key lines affect not only the perceived winner of a debate but also the fundraising and media coverage that follows in the days, or even weeks, after the debate.

“As the election draws nearer, more witty remarks and important discussion lines may become important,” Kall said.

But not all slips have a devastating effect.

“You’re likable enough, Hillary,” then-Senator Barack Obama dismissively told Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary debate. That drew a backlash, but Obama recovered.

The same could not be said for then-Texas Governor Andrew Clinton’s short-lived 2012 Republican primary and White House bid. Rick PerryDespite repeated attempts and excruciatingly long pauses, Perry has failed to recall the third of the three federal agencies he promised to close if elected.

Finally, he mumbled a shy, “Oops.”

The Department of Energy, which he ran during the Trump administration, has slipped his mind.

It’s getting personal

Another devastating event occurred during the 1988 presidential debate when Democrat Michael Dukakis opposed the death penalty, a question his wife had also thought of.

“If Kitty Dukakis had been raped and murdered, would you advocate an irrevocable death penalty for the murderer?” asked CNN anchor Bernard Shaw. Dukakis showed little emotion and replied, “I see no evidence that it would be a deterrent.”

Dukakis later said that his wife said, “The most precious thing I have in this world is myself and my family.”

One of the most memorable one-liners from that year’s vice presidential debate occurred.

When Republican Dan Quayle compared himself to John F. Kennedy in a debate with Lloyd Bentsen, the Democrat was ready. He had studied Quayle’s campaign and seen that he had mentioned Kennedy in the past.

“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy,” Bentsen began slowly and carefully, drawing out the moment. “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are not Jack Kennedy.”

The audience erupted in applause and laughter. Quayle was forced to look straight ahead.

Nonverbal errors

Quayle and George H. W. Bush still won the 1988 election easily. But they lost in 1992 after then-President Bush was caught on camera looking at his watch while speaking to an audience during a town hall debate with Democrat Bill Clinton. Some thought this made Bush look bored and distant.

Another example of a nonverbal debate error was when then-Democratic Vice President Al Gore was criticized for his lackluster performance in the 2000 opening debate against Republican George W. Bush, during which he sighed repeatedly and very audibly.

In the second town hall-style debate, the audience erupted in laughter when Republican Bush was answering a question when Gore got so close to him that Bush finally turned his head and nodded confidently.

A similar moment occurred in 2016, when Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton turned to the audience to answer questions during a debate with Trump. Trump approached Clinton from behind, narrowed his eyes, and glared at her.

Clinton later wrote of the incident: “It was like he was literally breathing down my neck. It gave me goosebumps.”

This did not prevent Trump from assuming the presidency a few weeks later.