Debating Our Destiny‪:‬

Updated to include the 2012 election, DEBATING OUR DESTINY: PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE MOMENTS THAT SHAPED HISTORY provides a unique and in-depth look at the history of the presidential debates and their importance to the U.S. election process.

This Multi-Touch book from MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, producer of the PBS NewsHour, features video clips of Jim Lehrer's exclusive interviews with nearly every presidential and vice presidential candidate between 1976 and 2004. It is filled with fascinating information for all readers, including students of political science, government, history, civics, journalism and communications.

Interviews include:

President George H.W. Bush
President George W. Bush
President Jimmy Carter
Vice President Dick Cheney
President Bill Clinton
Senator Bob Dole
Governor Michael Dukakis
Senator John Edwards
President Gerald Ford
Senator John Kerry
Senator Joe Lieberman
Vice President Walter Mondale
Vice President Dan Quayle
President Ronald Reagan

The book also includes original interviews with noted historians, debate moderators, and the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates:

Michael Beschloss
Janet Brown
Gwen Ifill
Jim Lehrer
Richard Norton Smith
Margaret Warner
Judy Woodruff

Content:

Video Foreword by Jim Lehrer

Chapter 1 - Do Debates Matter?
Chapter 2 - Style vs. Substance
Chapter 3 - Debates in the Television Age
Chapter 4 - Do Debates Change Elections?
Chapter 5 - Do Vice-Presidential Debates Matter?
Chapter 6 - Moderators
Chapter 7 - Presidential Primary Debates
Chapter 8 - The Future of Debates

Questions to Consider (by chapter)