1. Politics, World Events, Culture, & Sports

2. 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.

3. 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.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6CNRl 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  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Jid5u RFo4

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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)

8. Foreign Affairs  Lebanese Civil War 1983  Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada) 1983  Challenger Explosion  Libya bombing  Iran-Contra affair  Berlin Wall torn down 1989- end of Cold War  Panama

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

10. 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

11. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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