1980-2001

By Karson Kuykendall

  • Election of 1980

    In the election of 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter already had served one term, and experienced great defeat in the election (YAWP, Chapter 29, The Triumph of the Right).

  • The Explosion of the Space Craft Challenger

    The United States Challenger exploded mid-flight killing all seven passengers on board. The space shuttle broke apart within a little more than a minute of its flight. The Challenger was the first fatal accident that involved and American spacecraft in flight (Dubnick, Romzek, 227, 1987).

  • Tax Reform Act of 1986

    The Tax Reform Act, put out by President Reagan in his second term, lowered federal income tax rates and decreased the number of tax brackets. This act not only impact lives in America, but also many in other countries. This Act decreased the tax rate from 50% to 28% (Auerbach, 589, 1997).

  • Nucelar Forces Treaty

    The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or Nuclear Forces Treaty, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. The treaty "required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently foreswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-breaking ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 t0 5,000 kilometers" (Arms Control Association, 14, 2017).

  • End of the Cold War

    Several factors played into the ending of the Cold War. First, the Berlin Wall fall in 1989. With this, East and West Germany were reunited. Later, the Soviet Union separated (YAWP, Chapter 25, The Cold War).

  • Mikhail Gorbachev Resigns

    When Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from office, he declared the the Soviet Union no longer existed. After his resignation, the remaining Soviet Parliament voted itself out (YAWP, Chapter 30, The Recent Past).

  • Oklahoma City Bombing

    The Oklahoma City Bombing was a terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Timothy McVeigh drove a rented truck strapped with a bomb into the building. This bombing was one of the most treacherous acts of homegrown terrorism in the history of America (Fernandez, 179-180, 2007).

  • The Attack of 9/11

    9/11 consisted of four suicide terrorist attacks, by plane, in the United States. The attacks were carried out by members from al-Qaeda. Three of the highjacked planes crashed into Theo World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth plane, attempted to be taken over by passengers, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania (YAWP, Chapter 30, The Recent Past).