The first vice presidential debate was held in 2000 at Centre College, moderated by Bernard Shaw, pitting Republican Dick Cheney and Democratic nominee Joe Lieberman. (Above, L/R) Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.
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Local Pioneer James G. Birney Among Centre College Founders
September 30, 2012
By: Dave Rogers
Two centuries ago Bay City pioneer James G. Birney was a founder of Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, where the vice presidential debate will be held Oct. 11.
Birney was perhaps the most important citizen in our history because he was twice a Presidential candidate and helped establish the city in the mid 19th century.
A native of Danville, Birney was just 25 years old when he was a founding trustee of Centre in 1817. His abolitionist views, however, later resulted in his rejection as a professor. He remained a trustee, traveling from his new home Alabama, until resigning in 1835 as the slavery debate heated up and caused controversy on the college board.
Birney's eldest son, Judge James Birney, is among the prominent alumni of Centre where he attended in the early 1830s before graduating from Miami University, Ohio, in 1836. the younger Birney became lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1860 but soon was named a circuit judge for the mid-Michigan region.
ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Martha Raddatz will moderate the Vice Presidential Debate at Centre College on October 11, pitting Vice President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Paul Ryan.
Democratic political consultant Danny Briscoe commented to the news media that Ryan's involvement puts the Centre debate in "a higher profile."
"It certainly puts the spotlight even brighter on it," Briscoe said. "He's an ideologue; he's a smart guy, very bright. He seems at the moment to have energized Romney and energized the Tea Party people, who are not crazy about Romney because he's been all over the map on things that they're against.
"On the other hand, you've got Biden, who is a veteran of 35 years of debates on the Senate floor and a foreign policy expert. He's not an ideologue, but this isn't his first rodeo," Briscoe said. "It makes the debate more significant, more important and more newsworthy. Which, being a Centre graduate (class of 1965), I'm glad."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/13/2298090/paul-ryans-addition-to-the-race.html#storylink=cpy
Raddatz has held her current role at ABC since 2008. Previously, she acted as the network's State Department and senior national security correspondent.
She is the author of "The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family," a New York Times Bestseller about the Iraqi war.
The public is invited to participate in the festivities surrounding the Vice Presidential Debate at Centre by attending the Debate Festival on Oct. 11. The festival, which will be held on Festival Lawn in front of Old Centre, will feature a live screening of the Debate, along with entertainment and performances.
Centre is considered one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the nation. It's football team won fame by defeating Harvard in 1921.
For more about the Vice Presidential Debate at Centre this fall, visit Centre's debate website.