The Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy Presidential Debate on State of the Cartoonion.
BASH: Welcome back. I'm Dana Bash, in for Jake Tapper. The 2016 debates sure have been wild, and we've come a long way from the first televised debate in 1960. The historical showdown is the centerpiece of tonight's premiere of "Race for the White House" a new CNN series documenting the most memorable presidential contests of all time. Jake shares the back story of the famous debate between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy in this week's "State of the Cartoonion".</s>JAKE TAPPER, HOST (voice-over): Good-bye, Mayberry, hello, Camelot. In 1960, CBS bumped to the beloved "Andy Griffith Show" to make room for T.V.'s very first broadcast of a presidential debate.</s>HOWARD K. SMITH, MODERATOR: ... the Democratic candidate, Senator John F. Kennedy.</s>SEN. JOHN F. KENNEDY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can freedom in the next generation conquer, or are the Communists going to be successful? That's the great issue.</s>SMITH: Vice President Richard M. Nixon.</s>RICHARD M. NIXON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I subscribe completely to the spirit that Senator Kennedy has expressed tonight.</s>TAPPER: Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon argued over the Soviet Union and civil rights but the debate is perhaps best remembered not for what was said but how the candidates looked. Legendary producer Don Hewitt recalls talking to the candidates back stage.</s>DON HEWITT, PRODUCER: I said, do you want any (ph) makeup? Kennedy who has been campaigning in an open convertible looking tan and fit, this guy was a matinee idol. He said, no, no</s>TAPPER: And how they looked impacted voters. Here's how Bob dole remembers it.</s>SEN. BOB DOLE (R), KANSAS: I was listening to it on the radio and I thought Nixon was doing a great job. Then I saw the T.V. clips the next morning, the guy, you know, he was sick, he didn't look well. Kennedy was young, articulate, and wiped him out.</s>TAPPER: Most historians now say that debate forever changed politics and not everyone thought that was a good thing.</s>BASH: And tonight on CNN, of course, is the Democratic Debate, live from Flint, Michigan. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face off and voters from Flint who are suffering through the city's water crisis, will be able to ask some questions. That's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight right here on CNN. Thanks for spending your Sunday morning with us. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" is next.