las vegas <u+2014> the smart money on wednesday<u+2019>s matchup between hillary clinton and donald j. trump was for a 12-round, no-holds-barred bout worthy of this city<u+2019>s prizefights. but chris wallace wanted a debate. and for the most part, he got one. the first fox news journalist chosen to moderate a general-election debate, mr. wallace mixed humor with scolding and persistence with patience to guide his charges toward the most substantive encounter of an unusually vicious election. mr. wallace<u+2019>s watchword for the evening, it seemed, was <u+201c>defuse<u+201d>: he posed detailed questions on policy, opened the proceedings with a calm query about supreme court jurisprudence and kept an eyebrow firmly arched as mrs. clinton, and more often, mr. trump, attempted to talk over him. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not a potted plant here,<u+201d> mr. wallace said at one point, prompting laughter in the audience, when the candidates<u+2019> bickering threatened to drown him out. <u+201c>i do get to ask some questions.<u+201d> inevitable clashes and interjections left mr. wallace at times yelping, <u+201c>excuse me! excuse me!<u+201d> from his desk. and while mr. wallace, dapper with his trademark pocket square, maintained a genteel presence, he also issued some sharply phrased questions that were sure to irk his skeptics, especially clinton supporters already leery of a fox news anchor taking the reins. one query to mrs. clinton began with an adversarial clause <u+2014> <u+201c>in a speech you gave to a brazilian bank, for which you were paid $225,000<u+201d> <u+2014> that earned an onstage <u+201c>thank you<u+201d> from mr. trump, who has clashed with other moderators. (mr. wallace did not roll his eyes at mr. trump, but his bemused expression came close.) later, he asserted that the obama stimulus package <u+201c>led to<u+201d> slow economic growth, earning rebukes on twitter from liberals. <u+201c>wallace is being tough on both of them, but he framed his questions from a conservative fox news viewpoint,<u+201d> wrote dan pfeiffer, a former obama adviser. but mr. wallace, a battle-tested political interrogator with a classic newsman<u+2019>s baritone, did not hesitate to confront mr. trump. he pressed the candidate about the costs of his economic plan, his praise of russia and his treatment of women, asking why <u+201c>so many different women, from so many different circumstances,<u+201d> had accused him of sexual misconduct. and in the night<u+2019>s most memorable exchange, mr. wallace repeatedly challenged mr. trump to pledge that he would not contest the election results if he were to lose, noting that <u+201c>a tradition in this country <u+2014> in fact, one of the prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s defiant reply: <u+201c>i will keep you in suspense.<u+201d> mr. wallace<u+2019>s demeanor came across as less aggressive than the interviewing style adopted by anderson cooper of cnn and martha raddatz of abc news in last week<u+2019>s debate, which also earned praise. but his subtle yet firm approach felt designed to elevate the election season and invoke the broader civic consequences at stake. and it generated a debate that put the candidates<u+2019> substantive and stylistic contrasts on full display. <u+201c>chris wallace is the real winner of this debate,<u+201d> meghan mccain, daughter of senator john mccain, wrote on twitter on wednesday night, echoing admiration from a range of conservatives and liberals alike. the candidates were not the only factor mr. wallace had to worry about when he walked into the arena here on wednesday. his presence was a milestone for fox news, whose news division has long struggled for mainstream recognition. some liberals worried he could carry conservative bias onto the stage. mr. wallace also took heat for saying he did not plan to aggressively fact-check the candidates, preferring that they questioned each other. but close watchers of all political stripes say that if mr. wallace has a bias, it is toward making mischief. mr. wallace, who turned 69 last week, is a proud contrarian, whose reportorial impertinence has resulted in some memorable lines: bill clinton once accused him of having a <u+201c> little smirk on your face <u+201d> during a televised interview. mr. wallace interviewed scores of politicians for abc and nbc before joining fox in 2003. often cited as the network<u+2019>s moderate voice, he brings a gimlet-eyed disposition to his work. when mr. trump, in an interview earlier this year, pledged to act more presidential, mr. wallace did not miss a beat. <u+201c>when are you going to start?<u+201d> he replied. at this year<u+2019>s primary debates, mr. wallace wielded powerpoint slides in challenging candidates, telling mr. trump that his proposed budget numbers <u+201c>don<u+2019>t add up.<u+201d> in an interview with mrs. clinton, he read back blunt criticism from the f.b.i. director about her use of a private email server when the candidate tried to evade a question. mr. wallace<u+2019>s big moment on wednesday also has a personal side: he is the son of mike wallace, the renowned broadcast correspondent who died in 2012, and their relationship was complicated. speaking on <u+201c>fox news sunday<u+201d> about this debate, mr. wallace quipped that if his father were alive, <u+201c>he<u+2019>d try to steal it from me.<u+201d> it was a joke, sort of. mike wallace did once steal an interview from his son <u+2014> with the comedian chris rock, a less consequential occasion than the final presidential debate. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the first draft newsletter . a version of this article appears in print on october 20, 2016, on page a17 of the new york edition with the headline: mixing humor with scolding to defuse clashes in a final substantive encounter. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
chris wallace, mixing humor with scolding, guides final debate
michael m. grynbaum