The vast collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington contain two wooden chairs. Their backs have labels explaining they were used by John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon in “the first face-to-face discussion between presidential candidates” at the CBS television studio in Chicago in 1960. In short, the first televised debate of presidential candidates.
But heading into the US midterm elections, the debate appears to be in decline. For many Republicans, ducking debates is a way to
