Democratic presidential hopeful and former U.S. Sectetary of State Hillary Clinton takes a tour of an engineering lab before a roundtable conversation with students and faculty of New Hampshire Technical Institute, Concord Community College, on April 21, 2015 in Concord, NH.Andrew Burton—Getty Images
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that it will approve six presidential primary debates for those seeking the nomination beginning this fall.
Each of the four early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — will host debates, the party announced. The move follows the Republican Party’s effective takeover the debates process following an internal review of its 2012 defeat.
“We’ve always believed that we would have a competitive primary process, and that debates would be an important part of that process,” DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “Our debate schedule will not only give Democratic voters multiple opportunities to size up the candidates for the nomination side-by-side, but will give all Americans a chance to see a unified Democratic vision of economic opportunity and progress – no matter whom our nominee may be.”
Like the Republican rules, any candidate participating in an officially sanctioned debate must agree to participate exclusively in those debates.
The six debate schedule is more modest than the RNC’s effort, which has capped the number of debates at 11, beginning this August. But Democrats have the inverse problem of the GOP—which is struggling with how to fit a massive field on stage—needing to build out a crop of candidates to debate Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Clinton’s campaign has expressed openness to debating primary rivals, but has not agreed to any of the as-yet-unscheduled contests.
LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The Democrats
Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesOf this picture, LIFE noted in its July 29, 1940, issue: "Trying, amid the general convention apathy and sullenness, to find some Democrats who appeared to be having fun [as it was clear FDR would be nominated for an unprecedented third term, the convention lacked drama], a LIFE photographer went to the famous 606 Club ... featuring an almost continuous strip tease."John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesSenator Harry S. Truman and his family at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesRoosevelt supporters demonstrate at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where he was nominated for a fourth term.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGeorge Vaughn of Missouri offers motion to unseat the anti-Truman delegation from Mississippi during the 1948 Democratic National Convention.Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesFranklin D. Roosevelt's oldest son, James, gets makeup for a television broadcast during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Penn.George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesAlabama delegation leader Handy Ellis (center) on the floor during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Ellis,a "Dixiecrat," would eventually lead a walkout over the Democratic platform plank supporting civil rights.Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesSoapy Williams sings the Star Spangled Banner during the 1952 Democratic convention in Chicago.Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMrs. Estes Kefauver (center, in white hat) watching the action at the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMichigan Senator Blair Moody (right) and Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. confer during the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMrs. John F. Kennedy at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesLeft to right: Senator Estes Kefauver, Gov. Frank Clement, Sen. Albert Gore and candidate Adlai Stevenson at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDelegates strategize on the floor during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesScene at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesTwo-way radios were used to interview delegates on the floor at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGeorgia Congresswoman Iris Blitch, a staunch segregationist during her time in Congress, being saluted by her state's delegates before her speech at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDemocratic politician Averell Harriman watches former President Harry S. Truman support him during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Harriman lost the nomination to Adlai Stevenson that year, and in 1952.Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesPresidential candidate John F. Kennedy confers with his brother and campaign organizer, Robert Kennedy, in a hotel suite during the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesScene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesSpeaker of the House Sam Rayburn of Texas grieves over Lyndon Johnson's defeat at the 1960 Democratic National Convention after JFK won the nomination. Johnson, of course, was added to the ticket as Kennedy's VP pick.Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesEleanor Roosevelt addresses delegates at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where she supported Illinois' Adlai Stevenson over the party's eventual nominee, John F. Kennedy.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Senator John F. Kennedy speaks at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesAdlai Stevenson (center) and Lyndon Johnson (right) congratulate John F. Kennedy on winning the party's presidential nomination at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDelegates from Illinois show their support for President Lyndon Johnson at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesRobert F. Kennedy (right), his wife Ethell and Democratic stalwart Averell Harriman at a reception for Jackie Kennedy during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesPresident Lyndon Johnson with his running mate Hubert Humphrey during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDemonstrators protest American involvement in the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.Charles Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Connecticut delegates and Eugene McCarthy supporters Paul Newman (right) and playwright Arthur Miller during the contentious 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA protestor is grabbed by police during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.Lee Balterman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCalifornia delegate Charles Anderson burns his credentials to protest the party's decision to seat only half of Georgia's civil rights delegation during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.Michael Mauney—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesChicago mayor Richard Daley — a Democrat who served for five terms and remains one of the most controversial figures in Chicago political history — on the floor during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDelegates for Alabama's George Wallace cheer behind a delegate for New York's Shirley Chisholm—the first African-American woman ever elected to Congress—during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach.Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGeorge McGovern delegation co-chair Willie Brown, Jr.—later the powerful, long-time Speaker of the California State Assembly and, eventually, the mayor of San Francisco—embraces an unidentified woman during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. McGovern would win his party's nomination, but was crushed by Richard Nixon during the presidential election, winning only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
