Summary

The Epilogue begins with a media analyst, Brooke Gladstone. Brooke explains that she, like the audience, is watching the debates decades later and thinking about their significance. She interviews some of the characters. Howard K Smith expresses concern that the debate descended into two people just shouting at each other, while Elmer celebrates the ratings and the fact that the debates made ABC the number one news channel. A member of the ensemble explains that, after these debates, this format became the norm for news broadcasts, with one person cast to argue for one side of an argument, and someone else to oppose it.

Patricia Buckley and Howard Austen (Vidal’s partner) discuss the impact of the incident on their respective partners. Patricia claims that Buckley deeply regretted the incident. Howard counters that Vidal regretted nothing. Both agree that the two men never saw...