Publisher’s Note
Reagan, AIDS, theChallengerdisaster, MTV, Yuppies,
“Who Shot J. R.?”—the 1980’s was a pivotal time.
The Eighties in Americaexamines such iconic person-
alities, issues, and moments of the decade. America
had a renewed sense of confidence after the chaos
of the 1960’s and 1970’s, but many people found
themselves shut out of the new prosperity. Looming
threats and difficult questions, both old and new, re-
mained within American society and the world. The
encyclopedia serves as a valuable source of reliable
information and keen insights for today’s students,
most of whom were born after the decade ended.
Contents of the Encyclopedia This illustrated three-
volume encyclopedia is a companion set toThe Six-
ties in America(1999),The Fifties in America(2005),
andThe Seventies in America(2006). It covers events,
movements, people, and trends in popular culture,
literature, art, sports, science, technology, econom-
Africa and the United States
Canada.
The Eighties in Americafeatures long overviews and
short entries discussing people, books, films, televi-
sion series, musical groups, and other important
topics representative of that era. Every entry focuses
on the topic or person during the 1980’s—for this
work, defined as January, 1, 1980, through Decem-
ber 31, 1989—in order to explore what made the de-
cade unique. Topics that span several decades often
provide some background and information on sub-
sequent events to help place the 1980’s in perspec-
tive.
The Eighties in Americacontains 663 essays, in al-
phabetical order, ranging from 1 to 6 pages in length.
Written with the needs of students and general read-
ers in mind, the essays present clear discussions of
their topics, explaining terms and references that
may be unfamiliar. Entries fall into the following
general categories:
African Americans
- art and architecture
Asian Americans
- business
- Canada
- court cases and the law
- crime and punishment
- disasters
- economics
- education
- environmental issues
- film
- health and medicine
- international relations
- journalism
- Latinos
- legislation
- literature
- military and war
- music
- Native Americans
Boat people
- politics and government
- popular culture
- religion and spirituality
- science and technology
- sexuality
- social issues
- sports
- television
- terrorism
- theater and dance
- transportation
- women’s issues
The encyclopedic format allows readers to take
either a broad view or a narrow one. For example, in
addition to the overview of the Iran-Contra scandal,
The Eighties in Americaoffers related entries on im-
portant figures (Colonel Oliver North and Admiral
John Poindexter), legislative reactions (the Tower
Commission), and foreign policy issues (the Reagan
Doctrine).
The Eighties in Americacontains more than three
hundred evocative photographs of people and
events. In addition, more than sixty sidebars—lists,
time lines, tables, graphs, excerpts from speeches—
highlight interesting facts and trends from the de-
cade.Essay Organization Every essay begins with a clear,
concise title followed by a brief description called
Identification (for people, organizations, and
works, such as books or films);Definition(for ob-ix