MY TAKE: TV marks its 60th year as a force in presidential elections

Can you believe it's been 60 years since television first played a major role in a presidential election?

It's something we very much take for granted these days, when campaigns start in earnest long before the next election and the candidates are seemingly always on our screens (witness the nearly 20 debates held to vet the Republican field this year, plus a vast amount of additional coverage both good and bad), but six decades ago, radio, newspapers and magazines still set the tone for campaign coverage.

That was about to change.

In 1952, television was still a developing medium, and not everyone had access to it. Only 40% of U.S. households owned a TV set at the time, but when Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson squared off for the nation's highest office that year, the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan found in a study after the election that 53% of the population watched at least some programming related to the campaign, including the first televised national conventions.

Eisenhower, whose well-known smile endeared him to millions, played well on TV. His strategists took full advantage, getting their candidate on the tube at every possible opportunity.

And of course, Eisenhower's running mate, Sen. Richard Nixon of California, skillfully used live television - in his famous "Checkers speech" - to defuse a scandal that emerged during the campaign when Nixon was accused by newspapers of having received a "slush fund" of $18,000 from wealthy donors. The speech, which was watched by millions, solidified Nixon's place on the ticket.

Stevenson, on the other hand, didn't own a TV set and felt using it to advance his campaign was beneath the dignity of the office which he sought. He complained that campaigning on television was akin to "selling the presidency like cereal." Television viewers thus saw very little of the governor, who preferred to deliver speeches before a live audience - without television cameras present.

It didn't help that Stevenson came across as "stiff" and "unnatural" on television. Critics called him an "egghead," and the derisive moniker stuck.

Eisenhower's skillful use of television - including a series of effective 60-second spots in which he answered questions on a variety of pressing topics as the race drew to its conclusion - won him the trust of many voters. He ended up winning the election handily, garnering 55% of the vote against Stevenson's 44%.

TV had earned its place in the political pantheon, which it still holds today. Whether that's good or bad, I'll leave to you.