By conservative estimate 55 per cent of the adult population watched or listened to all the Kennedy-Nixon television debates of 1960, 80 per cent saw or heard at least one. In this volume thirty experts in communications, political analysis, and opinion research address themselves to the questions raised by this unprecedented event. Following Harold D. Lasswell's introduction, which sets the stage by surveying the challenges which face the student of communications and political behavior as a result of the debates, the articles explore the background, circumstances, and effects of the debates in great detail.