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President Jimmy Carter announces the embargo on sale of grain and high technology to the Soviet Union due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
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President Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president and the Iran hostage crisis ended.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4jUfA_b9SQ] -
President Ronald Reagan was the most important person of the 1980s because of his policies and attitude towards the Soviet Union. His Reagan Doctrine and other pressure on the Soviet Union helped the American cause greatly and lead the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1991.
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The highest unemployment rate since 1940 is recorded at 10.4%. By the end of November, over eleven million people would be unemployed.
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The U.S. forces overthrow communist forces in Grenada and restore democracy. This was one of the first sign that the U.S. is willing to take action against communism and the Soviet Union.
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The opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games is held. The games run by Peter Ueberroth, prove a financial and U.S. success, despite a retaliatory boycott by most allies of the Soviet Union due to the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow games.
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Reagan Doctrine: The U.S. will support fights against communism in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola, and Cambodia.
This was one of the most important events in the 1980ś because the tables were turned on the Soviet Union and communism since the US had also joined forces in removing communism. -
The creation of the Reagan Doctrine was the most important event in the 1980s since it lead to the further isolation of the Soviet Union and put a stamp on communist spread to America.
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A tentative agreement on a world-wide ban on medium-range missiles is reached between the Soviet Union and the United States. This agreement would not be expanded to include long-range missiles when President Reagan refused capitulation to the demand from Mikhail Gorbachev to limit development of the Star Wars missile defense shield.
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Glasnost and Perestroika
Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intentions to follow a policy of glasnost openness, transparency and freedom of speech -
Vice President under Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, claims victory in the presidential election over Democratic challenger Michael S. Dukakis, Governor of Massachusetts. The Electoral College vote tallied 426 for Bush and 111 for Dukakis.
