Republican National Convention delegates cheer Lodge and Nixon. 

July 29, 1960: NBC Chairman Robert W. Sarnoff sends telegrams to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon suggesting a series of televised debates. The debates will become one of the cultural milestones of the 1960s.

A Times editorial quotes Barry Goldwater: "This great Republican Party is our historic house …. I am proud to call myself a Republican as well as a conservative…. We must remember that Republicans have not been losing elections because of more Democrat voters. We have been losing elections because conservatives too often fail to vote."

On the jump, Times Political Editor Kyle Palmer and James Reston of the New York Times assess the upcoming campaigns.