Commission on Presidential Debates
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| Predecessor | League of Women Voters (sponsor) |
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| Formation | 1987 |
| Type | Non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation |
| Purpose | Organization of the United States presidential and vice-presidential election debates |
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Co-Chairmen
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Executive Director
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Janet H. Brown |
| Website | www |
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is an independent nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of both the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for US presidential and vice-presidential candidates and undertakes research and educational activities relating to the debates. It has run each of the presidential debates held since 1988. The Commission's debates are sponsored by private contributions from foundations and corporations.
The Commission's exclusion of third party candidates from the debates has been the subject of controversy and legal challenges.
The first televised presidential debates were held between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy during the 1960 campaign. No general-election debates were done in 1964, and Richard Nixon refused to participate in any debate in 1968 and 1972. Beginning with the 1976 election, the League of Women Voters sponsored the televised Gerald Ford–Jimmy Carter debates, followed by the John B. Anderson–Ronald Reagan and Reagan–Carter debates for the 1980 election, and Reagan and Walter Mondale in 1984.
After studying the election process in 1985, the bipartisan National Commission on Elections recommended "[t]urning over the sponsorship of Presidential debates to the two major parties". The CPD was established in 1987 by the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican Parties to "take control of the Presidential debates". The commission was staffed by members from the two parties and chaired by the heads of the Democratic and Republican parties, Paul G. Kirk and Frank Fahrenkopf. At a 1987 press conference announcing the commission's creation, Fahrenkopf said that the commission was not likely to include third-party candidates in debates, and Kirk said he personally believed they should be excluded from the debates.
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