The 1980s was a decade to remember. It was a
decade of happiness and a decade of sadness. It was the beggining of some things and the
end of many others . Non the less, it was a very prosperous decade in the political and
social aspects of life. It really gave the people of the United States pride for its country in
a time it was despratly needed.
There were many political events in the 1980s.
Some were good and some were bad. The The Berne Convention dealt with copyright
protection. Every member must agree to a certain minimum level of protection. On
March 1, 1989, the US became a member of the Berne Union. The equal rights
ammendment was an improtant one. This amendment which failed in 1982 would have
given women more protection, but would also have caused other issues such as same-sex
marriages to be dealt with on entirely new grounds. The amendment was strongly
supported by NOW, which provides and excellent explanation of the era. The
Iran-Contra scandal was one of the worst examples of how politics work in the "civilized
world." As the scheme unfolded, people were taken hostage in Lebannon, people were
killed, lies were told, laws were broken, weapons were traded, and America was
disgraced. The entire ordeal rotated around the effort to obtain the release of hostages in
Lebannon. Iran wanted missiles. The US and Israel worked out a laundering scheme to
have Israel give Iran missiles, and then for the US to resupply Israel. The Contra aspect
of the scandal came about when the US used the profits from the trading of weapons to
fund the Contras in Nicaragua, also illegal. Reagan should have been notified of all the
actions being taken. However, the president never knew what was going on with the
hostage negotiations. Several people in the NSC were involved in s...