President more confident and combative, with Mitt Romney committing a series of gaffes over Benghazi attack and women

Barack Obama secured the comeback he desperately needed in the second presidential debate against Mitt Romney, finishing the night on top after a series of fierce clashes in which the two made no attempt to hide the extent of their personal hostility.

At one point in the 90-minute debate, watched by tens of millions of Americans, the two squared off, only a few feet apart, talking over one another, jabbing fingers at one another and accusing each other of lying.

Deriding Romney for what the Obama campaign sees as a belated shift to the centre, Obama portrayed him as more extreme than George W Bush on social issues, particularly women’s rights.

Read more in the Guardian

PART 1: 2012 Second U.S. Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9E3w1BeMj0

PART 2: Second 2012 U.S. Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SkgZLJ70rs

PART 3: 2012 Second U.S. Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK0cwtmrwEE

PART 4: 2012 U.S. Second Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsvTf_FiPYY

PART 5: 2012 U.S. Second Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HniflMGi6AA

PART 6: 2012 U.S. Second Presidential Debate

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZcmHhsxp4s