Anyone familiar with the 1960 presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon knows that the American public doesn't always vote for a candidate simply because of one's stance on hot-button issues.
Instead, the first televised presidential debate helped quell voters' fears that the 43-year-old Kennedy, who appeared polished next to Nixon's unshaven and perspiration-covered face, was too inexperienced for office.
That moment has been credited as the specific point in time when television began to play a key role in politics — a fact that remains true 55 years later.