IS FURNITURE IMPORTANT?

Yesterday on the bus to Philly from NYC I was reading a part of the Sunday NYT that I took from the PT. To my surprise I found a great small and precise article that described the different set and furniture designs on the presidential debates and how they affect the way the candidates are perceived.

The article starts by describing the first televised debate set between president John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. This set was commission to the Scandinavian designer Hans J Wegner. Carl Magnusson in the articles states that the modern vibe gave people faith in the future which I found super interesting.

And now the designs,


Kennedy-Nixon, 1960

The ground rules called for the candidates to answer questions while standing. John Kennedy's advisers thought this would benefit him because Richard Nixon was suffering from a knee injury. When Mr. Nixon shifted his weight behind the music-stand-like lectern,he gave the impression that he was ill at ease.



Ford-Carter, 1976

The height issue first arose in planning this debate and led to the "belt-buckle compromise," said Alan Schroeder, a debate historian. President Gerald Ford was three and a half inches taller than Jimmy Carter, prompting the Carter camp to seek what Mr. Schroeder called "compensatory measures.'" The top of the podium Mr. Ford used was two and half inches above his belt buckle; Mr. Carter's was one and a half inches below his buckle.



Carter-Reagan, 1980

Although President Carter was not allowed to affix the Presidential seal to his podium for his single debate with Ronald Reagan, the podiums they used resembled the one use by Mr.Carter when he traveled. Mr. Reagan ended up being the beneficiary. The image of Mr.Reagan behind the lectern made him seem more presidential and less extreme, analysts said at the time. Viewers could imagine him as president.



Bush-Dukakis, 1988

Height again became an issue: Michael Dukakis was four inches shorter than George H. W. Bush. Contentious negotiations ensued. At one point, according to Mr. Schroeder, James A. Baker III, a top aide to Mr. Bush, asked, "What are you going to do when you have to negotiate with Gorbachev. Ask for a little platform?" In the end, the set designer, Hugh Gray Raisky, built a nearly invisible riser of laminated wood for Mr. Dukakis that became known as the "baseball mound." It worked,until Mr. Dukakis stepped down to shake hands with Mr. Bush.



Clinton-Bush-Perot, 1992

This was the first of the so-called "town hall" debates in which the candidates variously sat perched on stools or roamed the set as they fielded questions from an audience in Richmond, Va. Bill Clinton suggested the format, which he had made the medium of his campaign. The format made for a less confrontational debate than might have been expected as members of the audience gently chided the candidates for not sticking to the issues.



Cheney-Edwards, 2004

Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards sat in swivel chairs at a horse-shoe shaped desk. Mr. Cheney's aides had pushed for the format, Mr. Schroeder said, because of the vice president's familiarity with "Meet the Press"-style shows and because of his heart problems. With a table debate, Professor Schroeder said, "It doesn't work to go after each other in a nasty personal way." Perhaps. But the candidates went at each other anyway in what The Times described as a "strikingly personal and bitter" encounter.



Lets see what the table set brings to Obama and McCain.