Presidential Debate of John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon: Analysis of Body Language

Introduction

Body language is a critical part of our lives. The world we live in today is based more on visuals rather than the conversation thus the phrase ‘a single picture is equivalent to more than a thousand words’. In the today world politicians, base their campaigns on how they look and how well they can present themselves to the audience. Similarly, companies are using brand imaging to market their products. However, it is not until 26 September 1960 that the people of America realized the power of body language. There was a presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, which is the subject for this essay. The debate brought about the confusion between the television audience and radio audience making it one of the crucial debates.

Kennedy and Nixon First Presidential Debate

Richard M. Nixon was a well-known man because he had been the vice president twice whereas John F. Kennedy was an unpopular man as well as an inexperienced senator. With the views of their political careers, it was clear that Nixon would win by a huge margin based on the fact he has had some experience in politics prior but were the predictions right? No, because for the first time in history, people looked at the body language of the two presidential candidates on the podium and that is what brought about the difference. Moreover, the way they were dressed gave a first impression, Kennedy was calm, relaxed and looked shiny while Nixon looked pale, weak and sweaty due to his refusal to wear make-up. As they talked, Kennedy would look directly to the cameras as if he was addressing the whole nation whereas Nixon looked at the journalist asking the questions and limiting the eye contact with the cameras.

The downfall of presidential candidate Nixon began from the start of the debate as they were sited down on the metal folding chairs. Kennedy was very relaxed and had a good sitting posture while he looked straight ahead. On the other hand, crossing his legs and cupping his hands helped him stay relaxed even though the mood was tense. Kennedy constantly lifted his chin slightly exposing his dimples as he spoke as well as standing straight with his feet slightly afar, this also showed how confident he was. Nixon, on the other hand, made some mistakes such as the positioning of his feet as if he was ready to run away rather than put the feet parallel to each other, which would have shown some level of confidence. The other mistake was the gripping of the rest arm of his chair while putting the other arm on the lap of his foot. It portrayed the image of a nervous and apprehensive person. As he spoke, he would put his head at the same level while talking and would occasionally look down as well as giving a darting look as he listened. At the podium, he would shift his leg from side to side as well as bend one of his knees portraying a tired and bored Nixon.

Listening to someone and giving him the time to talk portrays a good listening habit. However, this was not the case for presidential aspirant Nixon on stage. He had numerous eye blinks as well as an involuntary mouth expression and his chin down. From time to time, he would block his eyes and look down, change his body alignment and the deep sighs. The factors portray him as uncomfortable and at times, he would want to cut Kennedy before he even finishes his statement, which is a bad thing in debate and more so it felt as if he was undermining his opponent. Moreover, Nixon’s gestures did not match with his words making the audience feel confused and thus shift from what he is saying to his body language, this was another of his downfall.

Nervousness was the biggest issue that ate Nixon up. At the start of the debate, he licked his lips countless times showing how anxious he is. At the same podium, he is using both of his hands to anchor to it and trying to be comfortable. It is wrong as he should have used one hand while uses the other to make his gestures. He also makes a mistake by fumbling his words then closes his eyes in a bid to block his sight from the audiences so that they may not realize what just happened. His face was also watery due to his refusal to wear make-up and more so wiping his sweat when John was pressing him on the issues he had raised of his agenda to the country.

Conclusion

Thus, the audience that watched the debate from the television knew very well that John F. Kennedy had won the debate whereas those who listened to the debate on radio knew very well that Richard M. Nixon had worn. Even though Nixon had injured himself, his failure cannot wholly be attributed to his injuries. His skills and behaviors attributed to his downfall in some instances not using his empathetic skills towards Kennedy, therefore, making the audience judge him as a cold and calculating person. (Gass, 381) After this televised debate, the country stayed for another sixteen years before there was another debate. It was because presidential aspirants after this, refused to participate, after what was experienced in the first debate. However, this was a lesson learned by every politician on the importance of the image they portray to the people.     

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