In a Detroit Pistons cap, set designer Hugh Raisky was the man with the plans for the 1992 presidential and vice presidential debates. Though the location for each of the debates changes, the set and set designer do not. Raisky was a student set designer for the first televised presidential debates that took place between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960.
The millions who watched the first debate of 1992 on television probably had no idea how much work was done to convert a basketball court into a debate hall.
The set was a three-level stage covered in red carpet. The back of the stage consisted of tall blue partitions that provide a semicircular backdrop. Two 18-foot by 4-foot replicas of the Stars and Stripes frame the stage, and a giant American eagle provided a focal point at the center of the stage's back wall.
Raisky designed the set for the presidential debate at Washington University without ever setting foot in the University's Field House. "We didn't even know this space existed!" he said. In fact, he developed the dimensions of the debate stage following surveys of the original debate sites.
"We designed the set with Louisville, San Diego and the other original locations in mind. Obviously, when the location was changed, we needed to make sure the space could accommodate the set," said Raisky.
The stage was shipped from New York to Washington University. Raisky said the construction went smoothly. "I don't mean to sound like I'm schmoozing, but the people at Washington University have done a great job. It's been extremely well organized and coordinated. They made it easy for us," he said.
While at Washington University, Raisky supervised construction of the stage here and worked by phone with crews in Atlanta that were building a similar set for the vice presidential debate there. "The original idea was to have one set for all four debates, but we had to build another set for Atlanta because we'd only be two days away from that venue and there simply would not be time to move it. The Washington University set, he said, would go directly to Richmond, Virginia, and from there to East Lansing, Michigan."
Raisky's design work is regularly seen on television. He put together many of the sets used by ESPN, the cable sports network, and designed sets for the Goodwill Games in 1990 -- an assignment he will repeat in 1994. His designs have been used for network election coverage, political conventions and the old CBS children's history program, "You Are There."