There was so much talking over each other it was difficult at times to sort through the claims and counterclaims.
Vice president Biden grinned when he thought Mr. Ryan's statements were false and Ryan reached for his water glass when Biden made questionable cracks.
We took several key claims and put them to the I-detector test.
The debate was in Danville, Kentucky.
The first debate question was about Benghazi, Libya, where at the American consulate the US Ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a September 11 terrorist attack.
In his answer to the very first question, Vice President Biden said that he didn't know the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya wanted more security.
That was simply false, according to memos and cables and testimony Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill where the state department's one-time top official said he sent numerous requests for more security-all denied.
When the debate turned to the economy, Wisconsin Congressman Ryan grew critical of Obama administration's stimulus plan.
He listed stimulus expenditures and said money paid for windmills in China.
That is false, according to federal stimulus records.
$5.2 billion has gone to wind farms in the US, and a small portion of the hardware may have been made by the Chinese, but no money went to windmills in China.
Vice President Biden played a stimulus card of his own in that discussion, looking at Ryan and stating that he asked for stimulus money from the Obama administration for his Wisconsin Congressional district.
That is true, and while Ryan denied it in the past he admitted it Thursday night.
Despite initially denying requesting stimulus cash, in 2009 Representative Ryan indeed wrote these letters to the secretaries of energy and labor asking for stimulus grants to help pay for two Wisconsin energy conservation projects.
On health care, Ryan stated that 20 million Americans will lose their health care insurance under Obamacare.
That may end up true, and then some, according to the non-partisan congressional budget office, that has found the 30 million people who buy private health insurance on their own may have to get new plans, if theirs don't meet minimum standards.
The debate obviously included many more punches from both sides than did the presidential debate last week.
Perhaps the most repeated claim was from Mr. Biden calling Mr. Ryan his friend, dozens of times.
