The Nixon-Kennedy debate: a cold case to be reopened

Abstract

The paper aims to reopen the Nixon-Kennedy “case”, the first televised presidential debate in history. That auroral event that has turned into myth, has marked the discussion on the relationship between media, politics and the image of candidates in many ways. Even after some time, the semiotic analysis tools can shed a different light on that case. Through to the concept of enunciation, we can overcome the simplified dichotomies between the strength of the word on the radio and the strength of the television picture in order to understand the semiotic forms that deeply marked the effectiveness of that event, and which are still at stake today in the construction of both presidential and leadership simulacra.