The most memorable moderator performances beg the question — what makes a great moderator, and can you please everybody? The reviews are in, and all but the most far-right outlets in the blogosphere believe NBC’s Lester Holt did a fine job in his position as moderator of the first presidential debate of 2016, and that may come as a relief to a network who put up Matt Lauer in that capacity only to see him pummeled by partisanship and average viewers alike.

So what is it that makes a good debate moderator?

They don’t have to be as entertaining as Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart. They don’t have to dominate the room like Bill O’Reilly. A good moderator does have to insert themselves when a candidate is playing loose with the facts, and be a driver of the conversation with great follow-up questions, while remaining non-partisan and favoring no one candidate over the other. And, they must play the role of time keeper.

Questions should be as difficult for one candidate as they are for the other, and, for the most part, a good moderator will be firm and above all they will be fair. “The environment is so tough right now for anybody moderating anything to try and make sure that it’s a fair debate,” NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke said after last night’s matchup.

That being said, we’ve rounded up the four best moderators in recent memory.

Megyn Kelly

It was perhaps the feud that launched the Trump phenomenon as we know it today: Last summer at the GOP’s first debate, before he became a serious contender, a back-and-forth exchange between The Don and one Megyn Kelly of Fox News sparked a worldwide conversation over the candidate and issues of gender equality.

“You’ve called women you don’t like, ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals,'” Kelly said.

“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” Trump replied.

“No, it wasn’t,” Kelly retorted.

And it was in this way overrided a rapturous audience with a bit of old fashioned fact-checking. 

Anderson Cooper

When Trump learned the popular host of “Anderson 360” had been named one of the moderators for this year’s debates by the Commission on Presidential Debates, he was not happy. It might be because of his well-known ability to ask tough follow-up questions and penchant for not allowing a candidate to get away from providing a good answer.

“He’ll be very biased, very biased. I don’t think he should be a moderator. I’ll participate, but I don’t think he should be a moderator. CNN is the Clinton News Network and Anderson Cooper, I don’t think he can be fair.” Cooper is, however, viewed upon very favorably by audiences nationally.

Bob Schieffer

The veteran anchor of CBS’ “Face the Nation” from 1991-2015 moderated the final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008, one of many times he’s played that role excellently over the past three presidential elections. The retired anchor had a bit of advice for this year’s moderators, equating the presidential debates to the World Series.

“Remember that nobody goes to a ballgame to watch the umpire,” he told the Washington Post. “We’re not electing a national moderator; we’re electing a president. If you keep that in mind, the whole thing gets easier”

Martha Raddatz

Taking a break from her role as anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” veteran reporter Martha Raddatz will be reprising her role and moderating the second debate of 2016. That honor comes after doing a stellar job in the 2012 VP debates, where she “held firm control of the debate without squelching dialogue,” and “didn’t ask puffy questions” or “let the candidates get away with vague non-answers.” (Washington Post, the New York Times)