• Characterize Ronald Reagan’s political philosophy and presidential style.

• Explain Reagan’s approach to managing the economy, including "supply-side economics," the New Federalism, and deregulation. Assess the impact of his approach on various socioeconomic groups, on different industries and localities, and on the economy as a whole.

• Highlight the key elements of Reagan’s foreign policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union and the Third World. Discuss how and why his approach to the Soviet Union evolved over time.

• Understand the ingredients of the Iran-Contra scandal, and its relationship to Reagan’s foreign policy goals.

• Describe the impact of the Reagan era on unions, the women’s movement, people of color, and the space program.

• Summarize the health and environmental problems facing Americans during the 1980s, and discuss the Reagan administration’s approach to addressing those problems.

• Highlight the key stylistic and substantive issues in the presidential elections of 1984 and 1988, and account for the outcome of those elections.

1981–88 Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

1981 Reagan survives assassination attempt.

Reagan’s initial tax cut implemented.

Sandra Day O’Connor appointed to the Supreme Court.

CIA begins aiding Nicaraguan Contras.

Reagan fires striking air traffic controllers.

Betty Friedan publishes Second Stage.

1982 Unemployment peaks at nearly 10 percent.

Federal judge orders breakup of AT&T.

Nuclear freeze movement stages rally in Central Park.

1983 Secretary of the Interior James Watt resigns.

Reagan announces Strategic Defense Initiative.

Suicide truck bomber in Beirut kills 241 marines.

United States invades Grenada.

1984 U.S. and French researchers identify HIV as cause of AIDS.

1985 United States becomes a debtor nation for first time since 1914.

Reagan and Gorbachev meet at Geneva summit.

1986 Iran-Contra scandal breaks.

Condemning apartheid, Congress bans all imports from South Africa.

Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos flees to the United States.

Reykjavik Summit ends in disappointment.

Gorbachev introduces glasnost and perestroika.

Reagan’s Tax Reform Act passed.

Supreme Court rules against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Congress passes Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Space shuttle Challenger explodes after lift-off.

1987 Stock market crash.

Palestinians launch the first intifada.

Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF Treaty.

1988 Bomb downs Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1989–92 George Bush’s presidency.

1989 Supreme Court allows broader state regulation of abortion.