Republican Party presidential debates
Since 1980, the Republican Party of the United States has held debates between candidates for the Republican nomination in presidential elections during the primary election season. Unlike debates between party-nominated candidates, which have been organized by the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates since 1988, debates between candidates for party nomination are organized by mass media outlets. Party presidential debates are typically not held when an incumbent president is running for a second term. Although debates were held in advance of the 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries among challengers to incumbent president Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee did not participate in scheduling those debates nor did Trump attend any of those debates. List of debates 1948 The Dewey–Stassen debate was the first audio-recorded presidential debate to ever take place in the United States. It featured New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen discussing the legal status of Communist Party of the United States four days before the 1948 Oregon Republican presidential primary. The debate transmitted throughout the nation via radio broadcast, and is credited with helping Dewey win the primary and the nomination of his party. It is often cited as establishing the modern presidential debate standard. This would prove to be the last time the Republicans held such an event for several decades. 1980 In what would be the start of a tradition in open primary campaigns, the first (of six) Republican presidential debate in over 30 years was held in Iowa on January 6, 1980. Former California Governor Ronald Reagan, who was the prohibitive front-runner, chose to bypass the debate. Five of the ten candidates participated: George H. W. Bush, John Anderson, Phil Crane, Bob Dole, and John Connally. The participants openly criticized Reagan for taking the state caucus for granted, which set the stage for a victory by Ambassador Bush. Reagan would participate in all further debates, including the decisive one, the February 23 debate with George Bush which became known as the "Ambush at Nashua". With Reagan boycotting the Puerto Rico primary in deference to New Hampshire, Bush won the territory easily, giving him an early lead going into New Hampshire. With the other candidates in single digits, the Nashua Telegraph offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting candidates John Anderson, Howard Baker, Phil Crane and Bob Dole to participate at short notice. The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage. As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, the editor of the Nashua Telegraph ordered the sound man to mute Reagan's microphone. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!" [sic] (referring to the editor Jon Breen). Eventually the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate