Politics, World Events, Culture, & Sports

US Politics  Presidential Election of 1980  Jimmy Carter v. Ronald Reagan  Reagan ran a campaign focused on lowering taxes to stimulate the economy, less government interference, state’s rights, and stronger national defense.  Reagan won the 1980 election 489 electoral votes to Carter’s 49  Reagan was 69 years old when he took office  In his inaugural address he said, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

Assassination Attempt  69 days into Reagan’s first term there was an assassination attempt by John Hinckley outside the Washington Hilton Hotel and Reagan, his press secretary and a Washington police officer were all shot.  QG0mg  Reagan was close to death but was stabilized at the hospital and had surgery.  He was released 12 days later  His approval ratings went up to 73%  His assassin was charged not guilty by reason of insanity  RFo4

Reaganomics  Unemployment rate went from 7.5% down to 5.4%  GDP growth of almost 8%  Inflation was 12.5 when Reagan took office and when he left it was 4.4%  He supported a free-market system  Cut taxes to help stimulate the economy- ”trickle down” theory  He froze min. wage, cut govt. assistance programs, and cut rent subsidies in half.

Reagan cont.  Built up US armed forces  Appointed the first female Supreme Court justice  Cold War-predicted Communism would collapse  Korean Air Lines Flight 007  Reagan Doctrine  Strategic Defense Initiative  Election of 1984 v. Walter Mondale  Reagan won 49 of the 50 states  Immigration-Immigration Reform and Control Act  War on Drugs

George H.W. Bush  Election of 1988  George H.W. Bush v. Michael Dukakis  Bush won 426 to 111  Berlin Wall and collapse of Soviet Union  Debt problem  Panama  (we’ll talk more about him in the next section)

Foreign Affairs  Lebanese Civil War 1983  Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada) 1983  Challenger Explosion  Libya bombing  Iran-Contra affair  Berlin Wall torn down end of Cold War  Panama

Technology  Arcade games and video games growing in popularity  Nintendo  Personal computers-Windows  Walkman and Boomboxes  VHS

Entertainment  80s film E.T., The Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, The Terminator, Rambo, Top Gun  TV Cable tv became much more popular Talk shows gained popularity (The Tonight Show) Cosby Show, The Facts of Life, Star Trek, Saved by the Bell, The Simpsons

Music  MTV launched and music videos took off  Popular Artists of the 80s Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Madonna, Queen, Guns N’Roses, AC/DC  Rock and Heavy Metal Popular  Techno dance music took off  Hip Hop emerged Run DMC, LL Cool J, The Fresh Prince, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy etc.  Musical Deaths John Lennon assassinated in 1980 Marvin Gaye shot Bon Scott (AC/DC) alcohol poisoning Bob Marley from Melanoma

Fashion  Fashion trends teased hair, perms, flat tops, and mullets ripped jeans, neon clothes, shoulder pads, jumpsuits, jean jackets, leg warmers, off the shoulder shirts etc. Headbands, Aviators, slap bracelets

Sports  1984 Olympics in L.A. were boycotted by the Soviet Union  Michael Jordan enters the NBA scene  Mike Tyson became the youngest boxing heavyweight champion at 20  San Francisco 49s won the Super Bowl 4 times in the 80s led by Joe Montana  Pete Rose breaks record for most career hits in MLB but in 1989 is banned from baseball for gambling  Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

Other Events  Mt. St. Helen’s erupted killing 57 people  Earthquake struck San Francisco Bay during the World Series 65 killed  Titanic was discovered on the bottom of the North Atlantic floor