Remember Ross Perot, Gore Vidal?
The years leading up to an American election are a great time for those who enjoy political debates. The primaries usually offer an assortment of colorful characters duking it out while the presidential debates can be theatrical and sometimes tense. These rhetorical struggles often influence the course of American politics.
10 Kennedy vs. Nixon – 1960
Things became especially heated when the subject turned to police brutality toward protesters, whom Buckley argued had brought problems on themselves by chanting obscenities and pro-Vietcong slogans. Moderator Howard K. Smith asked Vidal, “Wasn’t it a provocative act to try to raise the Vietcong flag in the park in the film we just saw? Wouldn’t that invite . . . raising a Nazi flag in World War II [which] would have had similar consequences?”
Vidal replied that while he supported the American right to protest, the Vietcong had the right to organize their country as they saw fit. Buckley countered that many Americans were pro-Nazi before and during World War II and were rightly condemned for their stance.
Vidal coolly interjected, “As far as I’m concerned, the only pro- or crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.” Seething, Buckley rose to his feet and spat, “Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face, and you’ll stay plastered.”
Later, Buckley regretted losing his temper because he had played directly into Vidal’s hands. While the debate was shocking at the time, it was also highly entertaining and helped to cement political debate as a viable form of television entertainment.
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