Ines Lecland

Milan Kaushik

Carl McConkie

Abby Strub

 

 

 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events

and leadership shape and reflect 

post-WWII America?

 

The 1980s

                       

 

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This slide show represents most of the occurrences in the 1980s accompanied with a classic song, Celebration.

 

Business & the Economy

 

     The 1980s reflected times of American economic downturn and a large increase in the national debt. A recession began in 1979 and continued throughout 1982. The unemployment rate hovered around 7.8-10 percent. In addition to the high unemployment rate, business failures increased 50% from 1981-1982 and in June of 1982 there was 584 business failures throughout that single month. The recession hit hardest in areas between Pennsylvaniaand Michigan where the American industrial heart is. Major American industries such as steel and the automobile industry fell from deceased demand and a technological lag in contrast to foreign competitors.The mostly republican government led by Ronald Reagan made a "business first" policy and cut federal spending to reduce the deficit and lowered government programs. However, the relaxed regulations on the economy led to high amounts of business scandals by "insider trading" where companies gather illegal information to gain a decisive advantage over their competitors in addition to breakins into competing companie's offices for information.

 

     The 1980s also had another major hit in the market with agriculture.  The 1970s had a major increase in demand and with low interest rates the farmers made many loans on land, equipment, and crops. However the 1980s had a major decline in demand because 3rd world countries bought surpluses of American food and spent more than they could afford. As a result, the countries reduced their imports of food and smashed the demand for food in the 1980s. This change in demand and falling land prices lead to the failureof over 150,000 farms between 1981-1986. However, one industry in the United States managed to have success. This industry was the computer industry that took off in the 1980s. Several products such as the first Macintosh by Apple and the laptop computer from Hewlett Packard made their debut in the 1980s and their successes in this decade have helped form these giants to what they are today.

     In conclusion, the 1980s was an economic downturn in U.S history. The recession, high unemployment, and business failures devastated many families and large corporations that still have left an effect on today's issues.

 

Education

 

     In the early 1980s, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) went on a downward spiral and by 1982, eight percent of 17 year old whites were illiterate as well as 42 percent of black teenagers. At this point in time, many high schools adopted a minimum competency test for graduation, which became popular in 38 states. One week before the monumental election of Ronald Reagan, President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States was heading for “virtual scientific and technological illiteracy. This was a warning to the citizens of the United States of America that its education system was behind that of the Soviet Union, Japan, and West Germany, slowly losing its competitive edge. It was evident that students were learning less and less. In 1982 the California Roundtable investigated the situation in and found that both the school day and year had been shortened. Fewer than one-fifth of those students did a single homework assignment per week, and more than one-half of the students entering the California college and university system were placed in remedial math and English courses despite having good grades in those subjects in secondary schools. The National Center for Educational Statistics, the data analysts for the Department of Education, reported in 1982 that only 2.6 percent of the 1982 high-school graduates actually met the College Board's newly proposed graduation requirements.

     Liberals and conservatives agreed that American schools were neither performing nor delivering quality education for any age group. Most conservatives were convinced that the federal presence in the education system had been the initiation of the decay. Other liberal believers supposed the contrary; they thought that the integration of bilingual and handicapped children into public schools was due to federal intervention.  They both agreed the issue that the counterculture acts in the 1960s and 1970s lead to the horrid educational system.  The conservative view-point is summarized by Jay Sommer, the 1981 National Teacher of the Year by stating, “A period like the Sixties can have a devastating effect on learning and schooling." Liberal thinkers such as Ira Shor took a whole different approach to the failing educational system, in which they laid the blame on poor economic conditions at the time. His point attacked the “careerism” that Nixon’s administration had poorly timed, where the baby boomers had exhausted the higher education arena in the 60s and 70s and then swamped the job markets.

 

     Although a compromise regarding as to who or what was to blame for the situation could not be reached, the United States was a nation at risk. The educational policy in the United States was stretched to the extremes every ten years; however this decade was particularly unique in the sense that nonpartisan coalitions groups establish goals that were much more centrist in nature. "When the pocketbooks of Americans felt the effect of poor schooling, America became interested in improving the problems."

     State funding faced an unprecedented decline therefore hindering them to fund for additional programs, leading to people abandoning their public schools. These actions clearly accentuated the decline of hope many people had in public education in the 1980s. Because of these economic realities, dramatic educational reforms got more press attention than financial support.

 

Fashion, Fads and Trends

 

The 1980s fashion changed greatly from the previous decade. It went from baggy pants and tight shirts and switched to baggy shirts and tight pants. Bright colors, noticeable makeup, big hair were all new trends of this decade. People looked for new ways to express their creativity through clothes and fashion.

 

     Glamour was back in fashion as people were largely influenced by Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. Not only did they like the way the clothes looked, it was a way to display their wealth. Designer clothes such as Donna Karanand Ralph Lauren increased in popularity due to the sophisticated look. They provided suits for women which was a new trend amongst women for work attire who finally wore the same clothes as men to work. The “power suit” outfit for men came back in style and was a sign of hard-work and success. However, as the end of the decade approached, casual wear became more frequent, starting with “casualFridays” that continued onto the next decade.

Brand names became increasingly important seeing that they were viewed as a prestige label. Famous brand names included Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Ocean Pacific, Banana Republic, Reebok, Jordache, Guess and Kaepa.

     The preppy style was new and dominated the trends among young and snobbish college-aged people in the 1980’s. However, exercise clothing also intrigued the American public with running suits, stretchy spandex tights and headband. Ripped sweatshirts boomed in popularity after the famous movie Flashdance (1983).

Michael Jackson also influenced the trends, with his leather jacket for example which significantly increased after he appeared wearing one. Aviators jacket and sunglasses made a comeback. Piercings grew in popularity along with jewelry in not only women but men as well.

     Gothic fashion emerged from the punk trend in the 1980s. They wore distinctive clothing, dyed their hair, and had multiple piercings (and increasing trend at that time). Their style was rather angry and dark. This fashion was seen in bands and singers such as the rock band called Joy Division.

 

In a couple of words, the 1980’s fashion is memorable and quite distinctive.

 

 

It is plain to see that the fashion trends in the 80s were wild, funky, creative, colorful and fun!

 

Film and theater

 

     By the 1980s, Hollywood had learned enough about mass-production and majority rule to understand how to draw in customers with broad but simple hooks. Such films were built around a simple premise, rather than around complex characters or strong artistic execution, and are ironically referred to as “high concept films.” The high concept film was developed during the late seventies, with Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977) as prime first examples. However,  it was not until the eighties that high concept films dominated American theaters. Producer Don Simpson of Flashdance and Top Gun fame has been credited with the creation of the high concept film, which remains the most popular and common film type made today.

          The eighties also saw the continuation of the ‘blockbuster boom’ from the late seventies. Today the word “blockbuster” refers to something with both a large production budget and lots of marketing surrounding it, whereas before it referred to extremely popular and successful films regardless of their budgets or advertising. Following the release of films that fulfilled both meanings of the word, such as Star Wars (1977), the term “blockbuster” began to fuse with the concept of “high concept films”. In the eighties, the most financially and culturally successful films were both blockbusters and high concept films. These included the second and third Star Wars installments, E.T., the first three Indiana Jones movies and the Back To The Future film series.

          Of course, though most of the films of the eighties relied on mass markteting strategies, American audiences showed an increased interest in science-fiction, horror and action movies. Many classics of these genres appeared in this decade. For action lovers, the eighties brought  the original Indiana Jones movies, Chuck Norris’ Missing in Action trilogy and The Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger. After the horror movie boom of the seventies, eighties’ horror films were still creative, but became far gorier, with The Shining and A Nightmare On Elm Street as prime examples to be remade a few decades later. As for science-fiction fans, Star Wars was the biggest but not the only option: E.T., the Back To The Future series, Mad Max 2, and Blade Runner were gobbled up by moviegoers.

          With the new popularity of science-fiction movies, American movie-makers realized that a vital group in their audiences had no heroes of the silver screen: the nerds. Always the victims in movies, nerd culture had reached a turning point with Star Wars and deserved recognition. Movies with stereotypical nerd characters – such as Revenge Of The Nerds and Lucas – appeared, and for the first time in American cinema, nerd culture was being promoted instead of just belittled.

     In a similar fashion, the sub-genre of teen comedy boomed in the eighties after producers noticed the popularity of Animal House (1978). The most enduring of these is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Heathers as runner-ups. Rite-of-passage films experienced the same boom , sometimes combining with the teen genre to produce classics like The Karate Kid and The Breakfast Club.

 

 

     Unfortunately, with the increased interest in mass-marketed “thriller” films, nudity and erotic elements in movies increased significantly enough that the PG-13 rating had to be created in 1984, creating a middle ground between the PG rating of Disney movies and the R rating of Freddy Kreuger.

     In the world of American theater, however, there was a revival more than a booming of genres. Past Broadway classics like The Music Man, West Side Story, Anything Goes and The King And I were revived on the stage in an attempt to draw theater-goers back with classics. Another draw was the newest musicals from Andrew Lloyd Webber, the creator Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar. His musicals of the 1980s are his most famous, including but not limited to The Phantom Of The Opera (still running on Broadway today), and Cats. The most influential theater from abroad was the musical Les Misérables, translated from French in 1985 but written in 1980, and the third-longest running Broadway show as well as the longest running West End production at 25 straight years. The few non-musical plays of note written in the 1980s focus on international casts of characters whose personal and political relationships mirror each other, and they satirized either the current political situation with the Soviet Union or the Vietnam War.

 

 

Food &  Drink

 

     McDonalds, like today’s culture, was very popular back in the 80s. In 1985, McDonald's became one of the thirty most frequented companies making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Candy was big in the 80s as well with Jawbreakers, Hubba Bubba Chewing Gum, Nerds, Sweetarts, and Five Aive. Although most foods were not created in the 80s, they were known as the iconic foods of the decade. One of these foods was jawbreakers who were big balls that inspired candy egos and came in many different sizes depending on your ability to eat them. They became a trend, mainly amongst the younger population. Doritos Cool Ranch also boomed in popularity. These new 100-cal packed chips caught plenty of people’s attention.

 

 

     Tri-color Pasta salads were a new hot topic in the 80’s as they were easy and quick to prepare. Orange Julius also had quite a success as it mixed creamy and citrus, something bizarrely good. Unfortunately, it is barely found nowadays. Equal sugar packs attracted many consumers who were unaware of the health risks back the. The possibility of having sugar without it affecting your weight was extremely intriguing to the public. Artificially flavored fruit snacks were also one of the big hits in the 80s with Fruit by the Foot, Gushers and Fruit Roll-Ups. Tab Cola became very popular in the 1980s as it ran commercials and was created for “beautiful people.” Lean Cuisine was a major hit in the 1980s as it not only was quick and simple but healthy! This was revolutionizing for the people. It is thanks to foods like these that TV dinners became popular again amongst families during this decade. But probably the most popular was Capri Sun. The new style in which it was presented was effective and practical with a straw through the pouch.

 

They used seduction to prove that coke was for "beautiful people."

 

 

Print Culture

 

     The top nonfiction books of the 1980s are riddled with self-help and self-improvement books and the usual autobiographies and biographies of the strange and famous. Two particular nonfiction works stand out from the rest: All I Ever Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten and Cosmos. The first is a book of fifty short essays by author Robert Fulghum on how the world would be improved if adults lived according to the principles children learn in kindergarten, such as sharing and living a balanced life. Though criticized as being “trite and saccharine”, this book has enjoyed widespread popularity and has countless parodies, especially of the title alone, including a short reference in a 1996 opening of The Simpsons where Bart writes on the chalkboard, “I did not learn everything I need to know in kindergarten.” The other book, Cosmos, was a popular-science book written by Carl Sagan. It received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book in 1981 and spent over a year on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was the best-selling science book ever published in English until it was surpassed in the late eighties by Steven Hawking’s Brief History Of Time. Still, the book has a reputation for interesting readers in science and for being the book that made Sagan both wealthy and famous.

          In fiction books, legal thrillers and espionage stories emerged as significant subgenres, with authors like Scott Turow and Tom Clancy leading their respective genres. Danielle Steele gained popularity as a romantic novelist and drama author, earning over one million dollars on some of her books. Other popular authors were Toni Morrison (author of Song of Solomon), Larry McMurtry (author of Lonesome Dove), John Irving (author of The Cider House Rules) and Alice Walker (playwright of The Color Purple). 

 

An example of contemporary poetry:

 

In Those Years  In those years, people will say, we lost track  of the meaning of we,of you  we found ourselves  reduced to I  and the whole thing   became silly, ironic, terrible:  we were trying to live a personal life  and yes, that was the only life  we could bear witness to But the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged  into our personal weather  They were headed somewhere else but their beaks and pinions drove   along the shore, through the rags of fog  where we stood, saying I.   ~ Adrienne Rich  ~   Published in 1991, but surely speaks to the 1980s generation.

 

 

 

Sports &  Games

 

In the 1980’s, sporting events became widely commercialized and witnessed unprecedented financial prosperity along with mass popularity and the people went sports crazy. Television contracts for the broadcast rights of professional leagues generated an enormous amount of money, for example in 1982 television revenue produced 14 million dollars. In 1989, NBC won the right to televise National Basketball Association games for four years for 600 million dollars. It is obvious that having the power to televise popular sports was a very profitable revenue stream. However, to the annoyance of many fans, the salaries of these superstars skyrocketed. For example, Earvin “Magic” Johnson from the Los Angeles Lakers signed the longest and richest contract that had ever been signed, a one million dollar yearly contact. By the end of the decade, so much wealth was infused into the sports business that superstar and mediocre athletes could demand multi-million dollar contracts. In addition to growing in size and fortune, the sports industry grew in several other ways as well. An enormous business jump started the retailing of clothing, equipment for a variety of sports, such as basketball and baseball. In addition to that, a new sports medicine and insurance business was beginning to achieve higher successes. All in all, the total revenue of the sports industry leveled out at around 50 billion dollars. As the income supported, sports were not only a past time activity, but was a serious endeavor. They are rooted deeply into American culture values to this day.

 

     One of the greatest basketball players to play through the 1980s was Michael Jordan, a shooting guard who captivated audiences with his prolific scoring. He had a versatile offensive game, capable of driving towards the basket and drawing fouls or shooting from the three point line. This man led the NBA ten seasons in succession for scoring the most throughout the season. He was decorated with over 25 honors and award, having one each title multiple times. Without a doubt, this was the greatest basketball player to sweep the courts in the NBA.

 

This video commemorates all the achievements and success that Michael Jordan had achieved throughout his career.

 

                The commercialization of sports was dominated by the television, as sport historian Benjamin Rader argues, “Nothing was more central to the history of organized sports during the 1980s.” Millions of people enjoyed watching athletics on their T.Vs at home, where it often seemed that they were completely hooked. Past sports such as ice skating and beach volleyball gained increasing popularity due to the amplified amount of time these sports were aired. The most publicized and well known sport network was the ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, was a luxury for all athletic fans. There was however, a myriad of issues with this popularity as John Underwood explains “It distorts and modifies the way the entire sport is played.” In some sports the rules were altered for the purpose of making the action more entertaining for the viewers, such as in basketball. The shot clock, the three point line, and play offs were not mandated by television but were adopted in order to speed up game play. In addition to changing basketball, television also introduced tiebreakers to shorten professional tennis matches as well as limit the number of timeouts each football team in the NFL may use in a single game. In general, the exposure of athletics on television increased popularity and interested but broke the spirit of the original games.

                Of course there were wide varieties of scandals associated with athletics, due in part to the possibility of the tremendous financial rewards to be won. Cheating in all sorts in all sports was preeminent, which accompanied drug, sex, and gambling indignities. The abuses that beset college and professional sports were daunting. Many issues involved bias among the coaching staff where they hired athletes for other reasons than their true skill. Because it was such a competitive environment at the time, athletes believed that implementing steroids and other recreational drugs into their lifestyle would increase their chance of success. No sport was safe from scandal, baseball, football, basketball, track and field, swimming, and weight lifting. If sports represented the true expression of the United States and the end of the twentieth century, then it exposed a deeply troubled nation.

                Sports were enjoyed tremendously by millions of Americans all over the country, but the intensity at which colleges and professional organizations were practicing in desire for glory and profit had become exceedingly unpopular. It is clearly stated by Craig Neff that, “Sports had grown out of all proportion to the rest of society.” Once again, others believed the contrary, that the mindless pursuit of success suggests that this act planted its seed of moral resonance. Even though sports in the 1980’s had offered some of the worst scandals to the public, it also offered some of the best entertainment.

 

 

 

 

Music 

 

Under, a compilation of 40 great top hits from the 80s, the decade where great music was born. Even nowadays, one can still hear remakes of songs created 30 years ago such as "Right Round". Some songs are even still heard today due to their large success, for example "Livin' on a Prayer", "Celebration", "Hey Mickey" and many more! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

     The 1980s began as a decade with an anti-disco backlash in the US, and it became characterized by the use of synthesizers and keyboards. MTV was launched in 1981, influencing the popularity of new music as they were more exposed to the American public. New Wave and Synthpop became a popular phenomena throughout the 1980s decade.  Techno emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s.

     In 1983, the compact disc was introduced, reshaping the music industry as it replaced vinyl records and adding a needed nudge to the music industry. These discs used digital technology to take sound and convert it to samples that are then read by a laser beam of light. The compact discs were not only successful due to the fact that they were portable and never worn out but also because it could now hold a lot more music than previous media. CDs became popular and many went out and bought some, boosting the music industry. Very quickly, before the end of the 1980s, compact discs dominated the music technology.

     Although karaoke came into Asian restaurants in the United States before the 1980s, non–Asian Americans were introduced to this new trend by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show on NBC in 1986. This quickly became very popular, opening up karaoke bars all over the country.

     Beginning in 1985, struggling farmers inspired many musicians to hold benefit concerts in order to collect money needed for the American farmers to stay in business. These concerts came to be known as Farm Aid. Bob Dylan founded Farm Aid as he got the idea from Live Aid, a concert held in London, England, to raise money for the starving in Africa. Eighty thousand people attended the first concert, helping raise over $7 million. This astonishing success led to many more Farm Aid concerts all across the country. Many renowned musicians helped the cause.

     In the 1980s, heavy metal gained even more success. Bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden continued the early, raw sound designed to demonstrate aggression, power, and pushing the boundaries of "respectable" music. Even though its critics were numerous, fans outnumbered them as this genre spoke to raw human emotions. Bon Joviand Def Leppardwere softer heavy-metalbands who intrigued a wider public with many hits during the 1980s. "Speed metal" and "thrash" bands fused heavy metaland punk and rose in popularity. Heavy metal became the main topic of MTV. Despite many of the criticism this genre received, it continued to attract many for the decades to come.

     Michael Jackson continued into the 80s as a solo performer, with his album Thrillerin 1983 sold millions of copies with many hit songs including "Billie Jean" and "Beat It” and legendary “Thriller” music video. Jackson reinforced his success when appearing on the television special Motown 25 in 1983 where he performed his mind-blowing and forever remembered dance steps with the famous "moonwalk". Despite the many critics, Jackson remains an entertainment-industry legend in the 1980’s. Madonna was another famous singer of the time, as she influenced many of the younger population, setting trends among teenage girls.2 live crew formed in the mid 1980s to compose rap and hip-hop music. They’re main foundation was the free-speech controversy, as seen in their album As Nasty as They Wanna Be. Their songs mainly dealt with sexual subjects and profanity so it was notoriously hard for them to get to the radio and be heard by the crowd. This however did not stop them from becoming famous in 1989 and known as the Miami, Florida, hip-hop band.

 

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Above, you can see a video compilation as MTV, created in 1981, helped revolutionize music videos

and their influence. This is a small portion of the great new videos that were shown to the public.

 

"The Way We Lived" 

 

     Picture this. A young person between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-nine years with an income of more than $40,000 a year, spending money freely, showing their wealth through material goods, driving beautiful BMWs or new awing SUVs, wearing Ralph Lauren clothes and Rolex watches, drinking Perrier water, smoking cocaine and drinking beer. Torn baggy shirts, tight pants, wild hair, extravagant makeup and bright colors were all in style. This is the stereotypical American in the 1980s, also known as the “yuppies”, a nickname for “the young urban professional”.

     With a small number of twenty million yuppies in America, this group who chose an extravagant lifestyle still managed to become the reason for the growing economy. They attracted a large amount of attention in the media.

     But the American life wasn’t all about sublime and excitement. Even though politicians believed that the rising economy and prosperity of this decade would benefit the whole population, many Americans were not included from this prosperity. African Americans, for example, still had very low incomes in comparison to the white Americans, poverty and homelessness remained a problem, drug abuse became more frequent, AIDS was a rising issue, and gangs became more popular and more violent as it offered a sense of belonging to the younger generation. A survey found that although smoking had dropped among men, women, and teenage boys during the last ten years, smoking among teenage girls has significantly increased, by more than 50 percent. Rum was now more popular among the Americans as it sold more than vodka and whiskey for the first time of the century.

Other groups included conservative Christian and “skin-heads”. Conservative Christians increased greatly in number during these times thanks to the political support of the Reagan administration. This group did not approve of the yuppie lifestyle. A small group of young white Americans, known as the “skin-heads”, protested violently against the gains made by blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups.

     As one can see, the 1980s was a decade characterized by social extremes as the yuppies, conservative Christians, and skinheads all attempted to grab the media’s attention and all greatly influenced American popular culture.

 

     MTV was another big hit as it was created in 1981 and greatly influenced the culture of young people. Rubik’s cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, Trivial Pursuit, and Saturday morning cartoons all intrigued the American public and became new hits. The influence of computers raised and new games were created such as Pac man, Space invaders and Frogger. New movies such as Flashdance, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles all helped advance young teenage trends. Rap was beginning to break into the mainstream as rock music became more diverse in terms of its style. Nights in the arcade were fun and frequent as it intrigued the population. Americans continued to explore their country using various modes of transportation. But the most common way of transportation was RVs. Trips to Colorado for a mountain vacation were very popular in summer and winter times. Team sports for kids started in the early 70s but continued onto the 80s. Eighties' moms ran carpool after work to bring kids to their after school activities which included cheerleading, baseball, football, soccer, gym, dance, jazz, and much more!

 Incomes increased throughout the decade starting with an average of $19,170 in 1980s and ending with $27,210 in 1989. Cars, clothes increased in prices while the average new house decreased. This increase in price and income was due to inflation.

 

But while the 80s may seem like a very amusing time to live in, once one looks past the façade, problems such as poverty, AIDs, political apathy, drugs abuse and racism, as stated above, increased exponentially.

 

 

Government & Politics

    

      In the 1980s the government began running under Republican President Ronald Reagan. Reagan's inauguration brought in a wave of conservative ideas and policies into the United States and at the top of Reagan's list was the elimination of Communism, to defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and to reduce the size of the government and relax policies on businesses to stimulate American Corporations. Reagan's aggressive plans against Communism and the Soviet Union began with a one trillion dollar increase in U.S military spending. This high increase in spending contained projects such as a missile shield to be deployed in space and on the ground to intercept and destroy an incoming Soviet nuclear threat, while allowing the United States valuable time to retaliate. Many criticized this massive increase in military spending and coined the missile shield as a "Star Wars" project. However, Reagan's efforts eventually paid off when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in the Soviet Union and eased U.S-Soviet relations. Regan began talks with Gorbachev and their negotiations lead to the fall of all the Communist governments in Eastern Europe, the withdrawl of Soviet troops in occupied territories, and eventually the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s.

     

     As mentioned previously, the government made many steps to change the government itself and help the economy. Reagan planned to reduce the size of government and as soon as he became president he immediately halted all hiring for government positions. He eliminated several government agencies and downsized others to reduce the deficit. In addition to this he made a large tax cut in an effort to stimulate the economy. He also attempted to aid the econmy by providing a pro business approach by easing regulations and providing aid to businesses and that the money would eventually trickle down from the large business success to the blue collar workers in the U.S. Many critics bash Reagan's policies by pointing out that he never provided a balanced budget because of arms spending and the pro business polices lead to corruption in large corporations.

     

  

 

 

Leadership

 

     Ronald Reagan is known as one of the most memorable presidents of the United States. He had very high approval ratings throughout his entire career as president and in his second term, he won the election with the entire electoral college, except for Minnesota and the District of Columbia, but before he was President of the United States, Reagan was well known for being an actor in American films. In addition to his film career, he was in military service during World War I, but his poor sight inhibited him from fighting overseas. What is interesting about Reagan and his political career is that he was raised as a liberal Democrat and then changed to a Republican around the 1960s. He then successfully ran for California State Governor and implemented some of his conservative polices that would later be utilized in his career as President. 

 

     When Reagan became Presdient of the United States he focused on eliminating Communism in the world and armed the United States against the Soviets in the Cold War. His efforts helped lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and brought many Eastern European countries to democracies. These main accomplishments by Reagan are parts of the legacy he left behind after he finished his two terms and left the White House. Reagan has recieved many honors such as an honorary Knighthood from Britain and have had buildings and ships named after him. Reagan left a major impression on the world with his Presidnecy and his ability to connect to the people with his great communication skills from acting has him known as one of the greatest Presidents of the United States. 

        

  

 

 

 

 

Law &  Justice

 

     With the election of Ronald Reagan, the Reagan revolution which had a profound influence on the way Americans thought of themselves and the world at large. Crime in the 1980s was on the constant rise, as well as strange twists. Only now was it clear to the population of the United States civilians how dangerous and unpredictable mass murders and serial killers really were. Both Reagan and Bush declared war on drugs which helped educate the public and to cut down on certain drug abuses, but did little in preventing the traffic of illegal drugs in the country. Mass murders were becoming more and more abundant, and prison populations were reaching an all time high. The burden became so great that states and counties had to begin to experiment with privatization of prisons in an effort to save tax payer’s money. Violent gang warfare took grasp of Los Angeles and New York which was becoming more organized, following the lines of the Mafia.

 

This picture portrays the police trying to sort out an issue revolving around drugs and homicide. These offenses peaked during the eighties due to the easy access to methamphetamine and other addictive drug substances.

 

    

     In order to handle the constant onslaught of crime in the United States, the Supreme Court loosened policies which assisted in apprehending dangerous criminal suspects. This new case law allowed the court to implement illegal obtained evidence as a viable form of conviction, ruled that the FBI could apprehend citizens beyond the countries’ border for offenses against Americans, and also for the first time, limited military interdiction was interdicted to assist South American countries in an effort to eradicate drug cops. Cities and towns all over the country were organizing block patrols and established private security forces. The media also played a large role in the fight against crime, McGruff the Crime Dog commercials insisted children and teenagers to reduce crime anywhere possible and the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) was a successful counteract against the drug war. By the turn of the century, the war against drugs may not have been completely won but the amount of victories outweighed the losses.

 

 

Religion

 

     The trends of the 1960s and 1970s continued through the 1980s: statistics and surveys showed increasing divorce rates, more unmarried couples living together, and more single-parent families. According to the Gallup poll below, church attendance amongst American Catholics continued to decline. But American Protestant churches increased in attendance, though at a slower rate than Catholic churches emptied. Another Gallup poll reveals that since the mid-1960s, the church attendance of Catholics ages 21 to 29 had dropped more than any other age group, and continued to decline into the 1980s. 

  

 

     The Moral Majority was famous in the 1980s for fronting the New Christian Right that emerged around the time of Reagan's presidency. The Moral Majority sought to make conservative Americans more politically active, so as to garner support for the issues the group support like an absolute ban on abortion and on states recognizing homosexual activity. The New Christian Right as a whole was a faction of the "second New Right", which began forming in 1964 and continues today. It was this faction's approach to policy that helped boost Ronald Reagan to victory in the 1980 presidential election. The second New Right focuses more on national sovereignty and social issues.

 

 

 

 

Positive Political Cartoon

 

 

 

     This cartoon represents the population of the United States adoring their president more than their personal interests. The elephant represents the population choosing to support Ronald Reagan and the telephone call is from the people they had supported previously. 

 

Negative Political Cartoon

 

"The Gods are Angry"

                  

 

     This political cartoon is bashing the policies the government undertook as president Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. His first push in politics was to cut taxes, reduce spending on public programs, and deregulate regulatory agencies.The president named appointees to the consumers and civil rights agencies that could not be trusted making them inoperative. Few democrats followed Reaganomics, however, many disapproved of this movement because they believed that it gave too much relief to the rich and too little for the ones in urgent need. The creator of this comic states ,"Reagan continued to call for balanced budgets without ever presenting one and tripled the national debt." On the cloud in the upper right hand corner it says administration budget, and the lightning bolt is striking the social projects for the non-wealthy, giving the little man a shock. The large man represents the welfare for the wealthy, reflecting on how unbalanced this political movement was.  

 

 

 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

 

     The 1980’s was pretty far from the Second World War yet its effects were still present. Women gained more rights, had an increase in status and more respect due to the efforts put in during the Second World War. The feminist movement which advanced during the war, clearly shows its success in the 1980s with more women taking up the business field and even starting to wear suits similar to those of men. Sports were big in the decade of the war as women were able to become involved in more parts of social life. During the 1980’s decade, sports attire became very popular. The fact that women were becoming more involved in different areas of life meant that they did not have as much time to cook at home and take care of their children. The number of child per couple decreased as couples, mainly dinkies and yuppies focused mainly on their work. Home cooked meals also became less frequent and new fast food restaurants were opened. Efficient, quick and practical were new characteristics researched by the people following the war, and one can clearly see this in the 80s decades with Lean Cuisine and Capri Sun. Women also had more freedom and just like flappers tried to prove a point of feminism, women during the 1980’s paid attention to their physique. Fashion highlighted their curves, enhanced their facial features, marked creatively with the big hair, bright makeup and strange clothing. Foods became healthier as seen with Lean Cuisine and Equal (the harmful effects were not yet discovered at the time). However, fashion, movies and music greatly changed throughout the decades. In the 80’s, music used new instruments, such as synthesizers, and had new themes and meanings. New technology and new advancement in film and music, such as MTV, strongly influenced and shaped America in the 80’s. Fashion became more diverse, wilder and more creative. People expressed themselves more creatively than seen before. People were less conservative and even lead to extremes such as cocaine use. Even though people were less divided then before with less racism, social status was still greatly influential of the type of clothes one wore, for example.

     Along with the culture being affected by post WW2, there were many events in the 1980s that shaped it to become what it is today. The sports industry evolved greatly due to the collaboration between athletics and television, basketball, football, and baseball became favorite national hobbies. Without the intervention of the media in sports, everything would be completely different in the United States, such as the culture and lifestyle. The continuous improvements and inventions in the field of science and technology transformed the United States post WW2. Even though education was performing poorly, it helped alter the nation into becoming a worldwide superpower. When comparing these events to those of today, it is apparent that without these, America would not be near to what it is currently.

     Along with events and cultural changes that occured in the 1980s in American society, leadership played an enormous role in shaping the social and political order of our country. The rule of both liberal and conservative presidents after the second worlds war made it so that American society experienced many positive and negative things, but the positive achievements dominate. Under the leadership of both Ronald Reagan and President Bush, the economy and other aspects improved drastically and took the United States to a new level.

 

 

Works Cited

"Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union.." The American Presidency Project. 2009. University of

     California. Web. 17 Jun. 2009 .

 

Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Eds. Sara Pendergast and Tom      Pendergast. Vol. 3: 1940s-1950s. Detroit: U*X*L, 2002. Print.

 

Cooke, Jacob E. "Washington, George." Presidents: A Reference History. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3^rd ed. Detroit: Charles      Scribner's Sons, 2002. 1- 21. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Farmington Hills: Gale. Web. 30 Apr. 2008.

 

"Europe Divided on Familiar Lines To Two Speeches." Prescott Evening Courier 54(1948): 6. Print.

 

 "The 1980s: Business and the Economy." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989.

 

 Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 June 2010.

 

 "The 1980s: Government and Politics." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989.

 

Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 June 2010.