The expanding vista

The Kennedy era began with a groundbreaking moment in television--a debate between the presidential candidates, one that left little doubt about who was attuned to the new medium: Kennedy looking sharp and calm in dark blue; and Nixon fading into the set in his grey suit, looking nervous, sweating. And it ended with another kind of television landmark: a traumatized populace--still trying to comprehend the unthinkable death of its President--united electronically in a national ritual of mourning. In the Kennedy years, television not only recorded history, it made history. The Expanding Vista offers an engaging and insightful look at American television in the Kennedy years. Mary Ann Watson demonstrates how television was woven into the events and policies of John Kennedy's presidency, not only in his unprecedented use of the medium in campaigning and image projection, but in the vigorous efforts of his administration to regulate and improve the content of network programs. She shows Kennedy making himself accessible to the public by appearing on the Tonight Show as a candidate in 1960, allowing documentary cameras to follow him in the Oval Office, and supporting Jacqueline's televi