True, JFK came off as more on top of his game; Nixon always (to me, at least) seemed nervous about something, even when he was in the White House. People who listened to that debate on radio thought Nixon came off better; those who watched it gave the edge to JFK. Looks do count for something; Kennedy looked tanned and rested, Nixon almost like a ghost. That made as much of an impression than anything they said. Let's fast forward just a bit and see them in perhaps their most memorable moments: Kennedy saying "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Contrast that with a sweating, hesitant Nixon saying, "I am not a crook." JFK's line speaks to a now-departed era when the complacency of the Eisenhower era was ending; Nixon's line still echoes as a national joke. And despite Thursday night, Biden will still come off as the statesman, Trump as the buffoon when their administrations are studies 60 years from now.