1980s: Prosperity and Conservatism

When Ronald Reagan (1911–) won the 1980 presidential election over the president then in office, Jimmy Carter (1924–), he inherited an economy in disarray. Unemployment was high and so were prices. People were ready for a change in both the style and the substance of their leader, and Reagan gave it to them. Within a few years, the economy turned around. Inflation (the measure of the rise in prices) dropped, jobs were created, and the size of the government shrank. As Reagan told Americans during his successful 1984 reelection campaign, "America is back and standing tall" and "It's morning in America."

If you were in the right demographic group—that is, if you were young, white, and well educated—it was indeed a good decade to be an American. A new social group called "young urban professionals," or yuppies, enjoyed the Reagan-era boom a great deal. As managers and professionals working in urban areas, these yuppies enjoyed rising incomes and they spent their money lavishly. Large corporations also fared well under the Reagan administration, which had cut back sharply on regulations that limited business activities. The 1980s became known for its cut-throat business climate as many businesses merged or were taken over.

Although many Americans enjoyed the benefits of an improving economy, others did not. African Americans in general did not fare well in comparison to the rest of the population, and those in inner cities fared the worst. Homelessness rose dramatically in the 1980s, thanks to cuts in welfare programs. Some estimates placed the number of homeless in America as high as three million.

The Reagan administration also made changes in American foreign policy that added some heat to the Cold War (the long standoff between the United States and the communist Soviet Union). At the center of foreign policy was what came to be called the "Reagan Doctrine," which held that any country that was an enemy of communism was a friend of the United States. With this in mind the United States backed pro-American governments in Latin America, sent Marines to Lebanon to assist in peacekeeping, and invaded the small Caribbean country of Grenada to support an anti-Marxist government. Reagan's successor to the presidency, former vice president George Bush (1924–), continued Reagan's policies upon his election in 1988.

Reagan's anticommunist actions and his strong anticommunist public statements put pressure on Soviet leaders that eventually led to the most important political event of the decade—the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–) became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985. He scaled back Soviet commitments overseas and tried to increase the openness in the tightly controlled communist state. Soon, the changes he tried to make slipped out of his control and, over the next several years, the government collapsed. The most dramatic moment in the collapse came in 1989, when the Berlin Wall that had divided the communist East Germany from the capitalist West Germany was torn down. By 1991, the Cold War—which had lasted more than forty years—was over!

Reagan's economic and foreign policy conservatism also encouraged political conservatism on domestic issues. A coalition of religious groups, primarily representing fundamentalist Christian churches (those who literally interpret the Bible), worked together to push their political issues. Known as the "Religious Right," they backed amendments to require school prayer and ban abortions. Though neither amendment succeeded, the Religious Right was successful in shaping debate about these issues.

These larger social, economic, and political forces all had an impact on American popular culture. Perhaps the biggest impact was made by yuppies, an important demographic subgroup of the larger baby boomer generation. Knowing that yuppies and boomers were such avid consumers, American manufacturers, musicians, television programmers, and movie producers all created products suited to yuppie and boomer tastes. From the vehicles they drove (minivans and sport utility vehicles, known as SUVs), to the clothes they wore (Ralph Lauren and J.Crew), to the TV shows they watched (Dallas, Knots Landing, and Murphy Brown), to the coffee they drank (Starbucks), the yuppies' influence was felt.

But popular culture, as always, reflected the energy and interests of a range of Americans. Some African American performers, such as Bill Cosby (1937–) and Michael Jackson (1958–), appealed to mainstream tastes. Others, such as filmmaker Spike Lee (1957–), stamped their unique and even radical visions on popular culture. In music, rappers slowly made progress in popularizing their distinctive brand of music. Some, like Run-DMC (1982–), gained real popularity, while others, like 2 Live Crew (1986–), scared white America with their vulgarity and violent lyrics. Conservatives vented their frustrations and led their crusades over the AM-radio airwaves, while liberals were assumed to be in charge of most television stations and National Public Radio. But whether American popular culture came from the center or from the fringes, it continued to contribute to the great variety and vitality of the American experience.