The Commission on Presidential Debates was established in 1987 to organize debates between the candidates for president and vice president every four years or, as the organization’s website puts it, “to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners.”
The League of Women Voters had sponsored presidential debates from 1976 through 1984 but withdrew in 1987 to protest a format the Democratic and Republican parties had sought to impose upon it.
