1976 United States presidential debates

The United States presidential election debates were held during the 1976 presidential election. Three debates were held between Republican candidate, incumbent president Gerald Ford and former Democratic governor Jimmy Carter, the major candidates. One debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, Bob Dole and Walter Mondale.

1976 United States presidential debates

September 23 – October 22, 1976

Nominee Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Party Republican Democratic Home state Michigan Georgia Running mate Bob Dole Walter Mondale

The vice presidential debate was held on October 15 at the Alley Theatre. The presidential debates were held on September 23 at the Walnut Street Theater, October 6 at the Palace of Fine Arts and on October 22 at the College of William & Mary, ahead of the November 7 Election Day. All of the debates were sponsored by the League of Women Voters. In each of the debates, the candidates received questions in turn with three minutes to answer and a 60-second rebuttal.

Participant selection

In 1976 only the two candidates from the major political parties, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, were invited. As a result, only Bob Dole and Walter Mondale met the criteria for the vice presidential debate.

Debate schedule

1976 United States presidential election debates
No.	Date and time	Host	Location	Moderator	Participants
Key:  P  Participant					Republican	Democratic
					President Gerald Ford of Michigan	Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia
1	Thursday, September 23, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT	Walnut Street Theater	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Edwin Newman	P	P
2	Wednesday, October 6, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT	Palace of Fine Arts	San Francisco, California	Pauline Frederick	P	P
3	Friday, October 22, 1976 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EDT	College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	Barbara Walters	P	P
1976 United States vice presidential debate
No.	Date and time	Host	Location	Moderator	Participants
Key:  P  Participant					Republican	Democratic
					Senator Bob Dole of Kansas	Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota
VP	Friday, October 15, 1976 9:30 – 10:45 p.m. EDT	Alley Theatre	Houston, Texas	James Hoge	P	P

Three presidential debates were scheduled by the League of Women Voters:

1. September 23 at the Walnut Street Theater, with questions from moderator Edwin Newman of NBC;
2. October 6 at the Palace of Fine Arts, with questions from moderator Pauline Frederick of NPR;
3. October 22 at the College of William & Mary, with questions from moderator Barbara Walters of ABC;

One vice-presidential debate was held:

• October 15 at the Alley Theatre, moderated by James Hoge of Chicago Sun Times.

First presidential debate (Walnut Street Theater)

First presidential debate
Date(s)	September 23, 1976 (1976-09-23)
Venue	Walnut Street Theater
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Participants	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Moderator(s)	Edwin Newman of NBC

The Debate was held in the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

President Gerald Ford
Michigan

Governor Jimmy Carter
Georgia

Edwin Newman of NBC moderated the debate. A panel consisting of Elizabeth Drew, Frank Reynolds and James Gannon posed questions to the candidates.

This was the first presidential debate in 16 years. 81 minutes into the broadcast of the 90 minute debate, the sound was lost and the debate was paused for 27 minutes before the problem was fixed and the debate could resume.

Transcript

• [1] from the Commission on Presidential Debates website.

Viewership

An estimated 69.7 million viewers tuned into the debates.

Second presidential debate (Palace of Fine Arts)

Second presidential debate
Date(s)	October 6, 1976 (1976-10-06)
Venue	Palace of Fine Arts
Location	San Francisco, California
Participants	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Moderator(s)	Pauline Frederick of NPR

The debate was held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California

Pauline Frederick of NPR posed the questions for each candidate. The debate is infamous for President Ford's gaffe, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration."

Transcript

• [2] from the Commission on Presidential Debates website.

Viewership

An estimated 63.9 million viewers tuned into the debate.

Vice presidential debate (Alley Theatre)

Vice presidential debate
Date(s)	October 15, 1976 (1976-10-15)
Venue	Alley Theatre
Location	Houston, Texas
Participants	Bob Dole Walter Mondale
Moderator(s)	James Hoge of Chicago Sun Times

1976 Vice-Presidential debate

October 15, 1976

Nominee Bob Dole Walter Mondale Party Republican Democratic Home state Kansas Minnesota

The vice presidential debate was held in the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. It was the first vice presidential debate in American history.

James Hoge of Chicago Sun Times posed the questions for each candidate.

Transcript

• [3]

Viewership

An estimated 43.2 million viewers tuned into the debate.

Third presidential debate (College of William & Mary)

Third presidential debate
Date(s)	October 22, 1976 (1976-10-22)
Venue	Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at the College of William & Mary
Location	Williamsburg, Virginia.
Participants	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Moderator(s)	Barbara Walters of ABC

The Debate was held in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Barbara Walters of ABC posed the questions for each candidate.

Transcript

• [4] from the Commission on Presidential Debates website.

Viewership

An estimated 62.7 million viewers tuned into the debates.