1980s: Fashion, Movies & Politics | HISTORY By: HISTORY.com Editors 1980s The 1980s HISTORY.com Editors Sueddeutsche Zeitung / Alamy StockPublished: August 23, 2018Last Updated: July 14, 2026 Table of contents 1 Reagan Revolution 2 Reaganomics 3 Reagan Doctrine 4 Fall of Communism 5 Yuppie Culture 6 Movies in the 1980s 7 Television in the 1980s 8 Music in the 1980s 9 Fashion in the 1980s 10 AIDS Crisis 11 Women in the News 12 Disasters 13 Technology in the 1980s 14 Sources Table of contents In the 1980s, a new conservatism arose in social, economic and political life, characterized by the policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. For some, the 1960s and 1970s had been a troubling time that undermined Americans’ confidence in their fellow citizens and in their government. The 1980s, often remembered for its materialism and consumerism, also saw the rise of the "yuppie," an explosion of blockbuster movies and the emergence of cable networks like CNN and MTV, which introduced the music video and launched the careers of many iconic artists. The AIDS crisis of the 1980s would go on to kill more than 700,000 people in the United States alone. Reagan Revolution 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 any regulations. Did you know? At the beginning of the decade, as the Cold War showed no signs of easing, arms control advocates argued for a "nuclear freeze" agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1982, almost a million people rallied in support of the freeze in New York City's Central Park. Many historians believe this was the largest mass demonstration in American history. The movement resonated with many citizens who had once supported more liberal policies but who no longer believed the Democratic Party represented their interests. During and after the 1980 presidential election, these disaffected former liberals came to be known as “Reagan Democrats.” They contributed millions of crucial votes to the victory of Republican Ronald Reagan, the former actor and governor of California, over incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reaganomics Here's Why Reaganomics is so Controversial Learn about President Ronald Reagan's economic policies, which are known as Reaganomics, and why its trickle-down theory construct — giving huge tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations — is a controversial idea even to this day. " 3:21m watch 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 resulting economic growth would allegedly “trickle down” to everyone—but whether it did or not is a matter of ongoing debate among politicians and economists. George H.W. Bush, campaigning against Reagan in the 1980 primary election, referred to his opponent’s economic policy as “voodoo economics.” Reagan’s economic policies—known as Reaganomics—initially proved less successful than its partisans had hoped, particularly when it came to a key tenet of the plan: balancing the budget. Huge increases in military spending—during the Reagan administration, Pentagon spending would reach $34 million an hour—were not offset by spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere. This fact, plus Reagan’s militaristic posture in international affairs, earned him the nickname “Ronald Ray-Gun.” By early 1982, the United States was experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression. Nine million people were unemployed in November of that year. Businesses closed, families lost their homes and farmers lost their land. The economy slowly righted itself, however, and Reaganomics grew popular again. Even the stock market crash of October 1987 did little to undermine the confidence of middle-class and wealthy Americans in the president’s economic agenda. Many also overlooked the fact that Reagan’s policies created record budget deficits: During his eight years in office, the federal government accumulated more debt than it had in its entire history. Reagan Doctrine Like many other American leaders during the Cold War, Reagan believed that the spread of communism anywhere 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 Nicaragua, was known as the Reagan Doctrine. In November 1986, it emerged that the White House had illegally sold arms to Iran in an effort to win the freedom of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, and then diverted money from the sales to Nicaraguan rebels known as the Contras. The Iran-Contra affair, as it became known, resulted in the convictions—later reversed—of Reagan’s national security adviser, John Poindexter, and Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a member of the National Security Council. Despite its mixed track record, a majority of Americans still believed in the conservative agenda by the late 1980s. When Ronald Reagan left office in 1989, he had the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1988, Reagan’s vice president, George H. W. Bush, soundly defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the presidential election. What Was the Iran-Contra Affair? Learn about the Iran-Contra Affair under President Reagan who secretly supported an anti-Communist group in Nicaragua and funneled weapons to Iranian terrorists in exchange for American hostages. Discover how Lt. Col. Oliver North was found guilty. 4:45m watch Fall of Communism 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 agreed to the demands of the strikers. In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began to introduce the twin concepts of glasnost, or “openness" and perestroika, or “restructuring,” to revive the moribund Soviet economy—but those efforts yielded few tangible results. By the end of the 1980s, communism was in rapid retreat across Europe and Asia. The Berlin Wall, which had long divided the German city into an eastern, communist-held half and a western democratic half, was torn down by ecstatic crowds in 1989. And two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed. In communist China, the Tiananmen Square protests—student-led demonstrations calling for democracy, free speech and a free press—began in the spring of 1989. In June of that year, the protests were ended by the Chinese government in a bloody crackdown known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yuppie Culture 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 of young urban professionals across the country showed that they were, indeed, more concerned with making money and buying consumer goods than their parents and grandparents had been. Movies in the 1980s 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 like “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," “Beverly Hills Cop” and mammoth franchises like the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Star Wars series appealed to moviegoers of all ages, making hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic and international releases. But not everything was superficial escapism: Many now-famous directors honed their craft with dark, serious movies like David Lynch in “Blue Velvet” and “The Elephant Man,” Martin Scorsese in “Raging Bull” and Gus Van Sant in “Drugstore Cowboy.” Television in the 1980s 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 television owners had cable service. Soon, cable companies like HBO, Cinemax, TBS and Nickelodeon were household names. In 1980, the Cable News Network first aired, and soon CNN became a major player in delivering U.S. and international news via satellite worldwide, 24 hours a day. One year later, another revolutionary cable network, MTV, made its debut and completely changed the way Americans thought about music, dance and fashion. 8 Boundary-Breaking Black TV Shows These shows helped broaden the range of African American experiences portrayed on television. These shows helped broaden the range of African American experiences portrayed on television. By: Damarys Ocaña Perez Music in the 1980s 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 or were left out of predominantly white, yuppie culture. Rap and hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy channeled the frustration of urban Blacks into their powerful album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” But because of the consistent promotion of white musicians and bands on MTV, other venues soon opened up for emerging artists. BET, or Black Entertainment Television, premiered in 1980 as a challenger to MTV by promoting Black bands and musicians. Hard rock acts such as Metallica and Guns N’ Roses captured the sense of malaise among young people, particularly young men. The 1980s also saw the growing popularity of electronic music, house music, reggae, new wave and other dance-club favorites.