Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
We'll start with 1960, and then move on to the other years. What would happen if there were no presidential debates in the US elections?
Yeah, this is a non-starter in the sense they will happen sooner or later; the only reason there weren't debates in '68 and '72 for example was because of Nixon. The challenger(s) is(are) always going to want to have a debate as an opportunity to try and win points against the incumbent, and sooner or later there will be an incumbent who will feel comfortable about his chances to do the reverse.
Don't forget '64. Johnson didn't want anything to do with a debate and Goldwater didn't have the clout to get the president to concede to one.