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All debates

General election · 21 October 1960

Presidential Debate in New York

Full transcript: The American Presidency Project (opens The American Presidency Project in a new tab)

Speaking turns

49

10,670 words transcribed

Candidates' share

89%

2 candidates

Moderators' share

11%

moderators, panellists, questioners

Crosstalk markers

0

0 turns end on a dash

The debate, turn by turn

Read left to right: each block is one turn, placed where it falls in the running word count and as wide as it is long.

KennedyNixonHoweChancellorCronkiteEdwardsSingiserstart25%50%75%10.7K words
Candidates Moderators, panellists, questioners Audience, recorded clips, unidentified

Share of words

A stand-in for talk time.

  • Kennedy45.9%11 turns
  • Nixon43.3%10 turns
  • Howe6.0%21 turns
  • Chancellor1.5%2 turns
  • Cronkite1.3%2 turns
  • Edwards1.3%2 turns
  • Singiser0.7%1 turn

How long each turn ran

Ticks are single turns; boxes span the middle half; the heavy bar is the median.

1101001,000words per turn (log scale)KennedyNixonHoweChancellorCronkiteEdwardsSingiser

Every speaker

Show the full speaker table
Speakers in the Presidential Debate in New York
SpeakerRoleTurnsWordsShareMedian turnLongestEnds on a dashReading grade
KennedyCandidates114,89545.9%3621,50309.0
NixonCandidates104,62043.3%4071,21409.9
HoweModerators, panellists and questioners216356.0%820308.1
ChancellorModerators, panellists and questioners21651.5%8390010.5
CronkiteModerators, panellists and questioners21441.3%7277013.3
EdwardsModerators, panellists and questioners21351.3%688409.5
SingiserModerators, panellists and questioners1760.7%76760–

As the 2025 scraper split it

The notebook's own Participants and Moderators fields, reproduced exactly by the TypeScript port.

Participants
No participants block in this transcript
Moderators
No moderators block in this transcript
Listing date
October 21, 1960