1968: The Televised Debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal 

By Kater Leatherman

It has been widely regarded as the decade that changed everything.  By 1968, our country seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  women tossing their bras in the “Freedom Trash Can” at the Miss America Pageant, draft cards being returned to government offices, and the student takeover of five buildings on the campus of Columbia University. 

  Beyond the rebellion was tragedy.  Leading the way was the Tet Offensive on January 30, prompting respected TV journalist Walter Cronkite to deliver an editorial claiming that the war in Vietnam was “mired in stalemate”.  Less than six months into the year, the hopes and dreams of many were shattered when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. 

That summer, conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr. and leftist author Gore Vidal were hired by ABC to serve as analysts during the network’s coverage of the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions.  Ten debates were scheduled – five in Miami Beach and five in Chicago.  Each believed the other was politically dangerous.

At the time, Vidal and Buckley’s animosity towards each other was well known.  Buckley, when asked if there was one person with whom he wouldn’t share the stage said, “Gore Vidal.”  Yet, while they had their political differences, the aristocratic pair were cut from the same cloth.  Both were born in 1925 and had privileged childhoods.  Buckley went to Andover and Vidal attended Exeter.  In 1960, Vidal ran for congress; Buckley for mayor of New York City in 1965. 

They were high-minded individuals with large public personas.  Vidal wrote essays, Hollywood screenplays, and bestselling novels – both fiction and non-fiction.  Success came early at the age of 21 with the publication of his first military book, Williwaw.  Buckley wrote over 30 books and, in 1966, launched Firing Line which ran for over 33 years and won an Emmy Award three years later. 

At the time of the debates, ABC’s ratings were lagging behind NBC and CBS.  Instead of the endless “gavel-to-gavel” format, they decided to offer what they called “unconventional convention coverage.”  With Buckley and Vidal equally matched for wit, put downs and insults, it was just the fuel that ABC needed to increase their viewership.

On a casually run set, anchorman Howard K. Smith hosted the standoff.  He was rarely seen and many of his directives were heard but dismissed.  Viewers can see Buckley and Vidal wearing headpieces but there was no producer to rein them in.  Nevertheless, as the debates proceeded, they noticed the ratings going up.  By the end of both conventions, their numbers had doubled.

The first debate, televised on August 5, took place during the Republican Convention in Miami.  Because of numerous altercations in the years leading up to the debates, the two came “loaded for bear”.  The outspoken Vidal was more interested in divulging Buckley’s character while  Buckley was more interested in attacking Vidal on the issues. 

Minutes into the debate, Vidal – who came prepared with scripted insults –  accused the Republicans of being the “party of greed”.  Buckley attacked Vidal’s recently published, and highly controversial bestseller, Myra Breckenridge, about a flamboyant transexual heroine … or, as Vidal described it, “a woman who becomes a man who becomes a woman.” 

While they challenged each other’s political ideology throughout the debates, the schoolyard name calling continued. At one point, Buckley said to his opponent, “We know your tendency is to be feline, Mr. Vidal.”  Vidal described Buckley as “the Marie Antoinette of the right-wing.”  

During the ninth debate on August 28, while the televised riots were going on in the streets of Chicago, it all came to a head. Instigated by their differences over the Vietnam War, Vidal called Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” Buckley, clearly offended by the remark, responded by calling him a “queer,” then threatened to “sock” him in the face. 

For Vidal, this is precisely what he wanted … to expose Buckley’s prejudices.  For Buckley, a master at giving the other person just enough rope to hang themselves, it was a defeat that haunted him for the rest of his life.

Gradually, over time, Buckley and Vidal became more and more disillusioned with the direction of our country.  In general, Vidal was skeptical about democracy, saying, “The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country, and we haven’t seen them since.”  

Buckley’s discontents included Bush’s excessive domestic spending and the Iraq War.  On Charlie Rose’s show near the end of his life, he admitted to being “tired of life” and described our society as one that had fallen into a “listless” condition.

Because of ABC’s approach, the Buckley-Vidal debates would go on to become a landmark event in twentieth century television history. Now, whole days are filled with confrontational political shouting matches led by talking heads who would rather drive their point home than hear committed, deliberate thought.

In 2008, at the age of 82, William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away followed by Gore Vidal four years later.

Kater can be reached at [email protected].