The policy introduced by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev during the 80s that involved greater openness and freedom of expression and that contributed, unintentionally, to the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

A deadly disease that killed nearly a hundred thousand people in the US in the 80s.

Crisis that began in 1979 after the deposed shah of Iran was allowed into the US following the Iranian revolution. Iranians broke into the US embassy in Teheran and took 66 Americans hostage. The crisis lasted 444 days and contributed the President Carter’s reelection defeat.

Reagan administration scandal that involved the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for its efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Lebanon and the redirection – illegal because banned by American law – of the proceeds of those sales to the Nicaraguan Contras.

A political organization established by evangelist Jerry Falwell in 1979 to mobilize conservative Christian voters on behalf of Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president.

The economic restructuring policy introduced by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev during the 80s that contributed, unintentionally, to the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

The 1991 war between Iraq and a US-led international coalition that was sparked by the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. A 40-day bombing campaign against Iraq followed by coalition troops storming into Kuwait brought a quick coalition victory.

A coalition supporting Ronald Reagan that included the traditional core of Republican Party voters, middle-class suburbanites and migrants to the Sunbelt states, blue-collar Catholics, and a large contingent of southern whites, an electorally key group of former Democrats that had been gradually moving toward the Republican Party since 1964.

Blue-collar Catholics from industrialized mid-western states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois who were dissatisfied with the direction of liberalism in the 70s and left the Democratic Party for the Republicans.

Politically active religious conservatives, especially Catholics and evangelical Christians, who became particularly vocal in the 1980s against feminism, abortion, and homosexuality, and who promoted “family values”.

Term that includes food, beverage, and tourist industries, financial and medical service industries, and computer technology industries, which were the leading sectors of US growth in the second half of the 80s.

Economic theory that tax cuts for individuals and businesses encourage investment and production (supply) and stimulate consumption (demand) because individuals can keep more of their earnings.

A 1960 book that set forth an uncompromising conservatism and inspired a Republican grassroots movement in support of its author, Barry Goldwater.