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The 1980s was an era defined by conservative politics, the rise of computer technology, the AIDS crisis and the end of the Cold War, as well as 1980s fashion and music.
In American politics, the 1980s was the decade of Ronald Reagan. His vision of the nation and his conservative agenda shaped the economic and political fortunes of the United States throughout the decade and even into the next.
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- Reagan Revolution
- Reaganomics
- Reagan Doctrine
- Fall of Communism
- Yuppie Culture
- Movies in The 1980s
- Television in The 1980s
- Music in The 1980s
- Fashion in The 1980s
- Aids Crisis
The populist conservative movement known as the New Right enjoyed unprecedented growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It appealed to a diverse assortment of Americans including evangelical Christians, anti-tax crusaders, advocates of a more powerful American presence abroad, disaffected white liberals and defenders of a free market with few if ...
Reagan advocated for industrial deregulation, reductions in government spending and tax cuts for both individuals and corporations, as part of an economic plan he and his advisors referred to as “supply-side economics.” His economic and social agenda was largely shared by his across-the-pond friend, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The res...
Like many other American leaders during the Cold War, Reagan believed that the spread of communismanywhere threatened freedom everywhere. As a result, his administration was eager to provide financial and military aid to anticommunist governments and insurgencies around the world. This policy, applied in nations including Grenada, El Salvador and N...
While Reagan and Thatcher trumpeted the march of conservative politics and capitalism, the foundations of communism grew increasingly shaky. In Poland, former electrician Lech Walesa led striking workers to form Solidarity, the first labor union to develop in a Soviet bloc nation. In 1980, representatives of the communist government of Poland agree...
In some respects, the popular culture of the 1980s reflected the era's political conservatism. For many people, the embodiment of the decade was the young, urban professional, or “yuppie,” a baby boomer with a college education, a good-paying job and expensive taste. Many people derided yuppies for being self-centered and materialistic, and surveys...
Unlike the 1970s, when hard-hitting movies addressed controversial subjects, lighthearted fare seemed to reign supreme in the 1980s. Films like “Ghostbusters,” “Die Hard,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” kept audiences enthralled and box office receipts high. The decade was also the era when blockbusters dominated: Movies li...
At home, millions watched family sitcoms like “The Cosby Show,” “The Simpsons,” “thirtysomething” “Family Ties,” “Roseanne” and “Married...with Children.” They also skipped broadcast network fare and watched rented movies on their new VCRs. By the end of the 1980s, broadcast networks realized they were in serious trouble as 60 percent of American t...
The music videos MTV played made stars out of bands like Duran Duran, R.E.M. and Culture Club and megastars out of artists like Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, whose elaborate "Thriller" video helped sell 600,000 albums in the five days after its first broadcast. Later, MTV became a forum for those who went against the grain o...
In addition to serving as a platform for music, MTV also influenced fashion: People across the country (and around the world) did their best to copy the hairstyles and fashions they saw in music videos. Soon, musicians like Madonna, MC Hammer and Boy George also became style icons. But behind the gloss of MTV, another influence grew in both music a...
In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other sources began reporting on an outbreak of unusual health conditions in otherwise healthy, young gay men in New York City, San Franciscoand other urban areas. Within a few years, an alarmed public learned about the spread of a deadly infectious disease now known as AIDS, or Acqu...
1980s Politics, Culture, and Memory. From the “Reagan Revolution” to the end of the Cold War, the 1980s was a pivotal decade in reshaping the cultural, social, economic, and political landscape of the United States.
When Ronald Reagan (1911–) ran for president in 1980, he wanted to change the nation's economic path. He rejected the prevailing economic theory that had dominated American economic policy since World War II (1939–45).
Jan 1, 1987 · The New Shape of American Politics. An analysis of the forces at work in both parties which have dramatically altered the political landscape over the past twenty years—how...
During the 1980s, the political center of the United States continued to shift toward conservatism. Under the Reagan administration, the nation remained committed to fighting the Cold War, through traditional methods of diplomacy and military intervention as well as the development of new technologies.
