Rockefeller-Byrd Debates (PJW)

The Rockefeller-Byrd debates were 4 debates held between presidential candidates Nelson Rockefeller of the Republican Party and Harry F. Byrd of the Democratic Party in the 1960 presidential election. They were the first televised presidential debates in American history.

Excerpt 1
BYRD: There is no doubt that the domestic issue of negro insurgents are paramount to the security of the United States. Governor Rockefeller and his party seem to think we should coddle these "activists" who are little more than rioters and terrorists, and rather than confront these insurgents, we have been spending time, funding, and energy fighting elsewhere. The Republicans have been sending our soldiers to Cuba to stop the spread of communism, but why should our soldiers fight on this island when the communists have already arrived on our shores? These negros are nothing more than godless communists, and we should commit to fighting the communists on the home front rather than shipping our boys overseas.

ROCKEFELLER: We are close to winning the war in Cuba, Senator. But that is besides the point. The point is that our nation needs unity more than ever. We cannot stand up to the Soviet empire if we are not united. I do not condone "coddling". The extremists must be taken care of, I agree. But those are extremists. Their actions do not represent the actions of the entire movement. Do not let the actions of a few terrorists overshadow the actions of an entire nonviolent movement.

BYRD: Nonviolent? Were they nonviolent in Birmingham? Atlanta? Watts? No, they were not. We have tried to reach out to them, and they have rejected our olive branch and replaced it with a terrorist's bomb. The time for a gentle hand is over. Until those insurgents can prove they have earned their equality, we must keep them separate. With the terrorists behind walls, our people are safe.

ROCKEFELLER: Keeping them behind walls is exactly the problem, Senator. They are lashing out because we are keeping them in ghettos. The only way to heal this country and not suffer from a permanent divide is to tear down these walls.

BYRD: Governor, you mentioned that they are "lashing out" because we keep them behind the walls. But, look at the neighborhood of Watts. It suffered from two riots in less than in a year, and once the wall was put up, was there another riot?

ROCKEFELLER: Birmingham suffered a riot and it possessed a wall.

BYRD: A wall under construction, Governor. A wall isn't a wall unless it is fully constructed. Let me repeat my question: Was there another riot, another scene of chaos and violence, once the wall was constructed in Watts?

ROCKEFELLER: ...No. No there was not.