The 1984 United States presidential election debates were held during the 1984 presidential election. Three debates were held between

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate, incumbent president Ronald Reagan and Democratic former vice president

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

, the major candidates. One debate was held with their vice presidential

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pr ...

s, incumbent vice president George H. W. Bush and congresswoman

Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...

Debate schedule

October 7: First presidential debate (Center for the Performing Arts)

The first debate between president Ronald Reagan and former vice president Walter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 7, 1984 at the Center for the Performing Arts in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. The debate was moderated by Barbara Walters of

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and featured a panel featuring James Wieghart of New York Daily News,

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and ''Primetime'' newsmagaz ...

, and Fred Barnes of New Republic''.'' The topics were economic and domestic policy issues.

October 11: Vice presidential debate (Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center)

The vice presidential debate between vice president George H. W. Bush and congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro took place on Thursday, October 11, 1984 at the Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The debate was moderated by

Sander Vanocur Sander Vanocur (; born Alexander Vinocur, January 8, 1928 – September 16, 2019)
Retr ...

and featured a panel featuring John Mashek of U.S. News & World Report,

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

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Norma Quarles Norma Quarles (born November 11, 1936) is an American television reporter and anchor. She worked for NBC, CNN and PBS during her career. Early life Quarles was born in New York City in 1936 into a Trinidadian family. Her father worked at Macy's i ...

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, and Robert Boyd of Knight-Ridder Newspapers. The topics were domestic and foreign affairs. The result was proclaimed mostly even by newspapers, television, other media, and historians. pp. 785ff. p. 966. Women voters tended to think Ferraro had won, while men, Bush. pp. 103, 107–108. Some media, however, either declared Bush or Ferraro the winner. The candidates were both praised for their ability to debate.

Bush, Ferraro experience exchange

Ferraro handled a question about her experience at the debate, after being asked how her three House terms stacked up with Bush's two House terms, career as an ambassador to China and the United Nations, Director of Central Intelligence and four years as Vice President. The peak of the experience battle came when, during a discussion of the Carter administration in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Bush said, "Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon." Ferraro responded to cap what ''

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'' termed "a bristling exchange", "Let me just say first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy."

October 21: Second presidential debate (Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium)

The second and final debate between president Ronald Reagan and former vice president Walter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 21, 1984 at the Music Hall, Municipal Auditors in Kansas City, Kansas. The debate was moderated by

Edwin Newman Edwin Harold Newman (January 25, 1919 – August 13, 2010) was an American newscaster, journalist, and author. After beginning his career with the wire services and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Newman worked in radio for CBS News ...

, formerly of

and featured a panel featuring

Georgie Anne Geyer Georgie Anne Geyer (April 2, 1935 – May 15, 2019) was an American journalist who covered the world as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News and then became a syndicated columnist for the Universal Press Syndicate. Her columns focus ...

Universal Press Syndicate Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, was an independent press syndicate. It distributed lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebe ...

, Marvin Kalb of NBC News, and

Morton Kondracke Morton Matt Kondracke (; born April 28, 1939) is an American political commentator and journalist. He became well known due to a long stint as a panelist on ''The McLaughlin Group''. Kondracke worked for several major publications, serving for twen ...

of New Republic. The topics were defense and foreign policy issues. The debate is often seen as a victory for Reagan, most famously due to the line "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," it was received with laughter from the audience, and Mondale himself. Mondale later said that it was this moment when he realized he would lose the election.

References

External links

Full video of the debate
on C-SPAN {{United States presidential debates 1984 United States presidential election October 1984 events in the United States 1984 in Pennsylvania

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...