Welcome to the 1980s

The new decade marks a dramatic shift in the American electorate, which has grown tired of foreign war, and longs for earlier days of unchallenged world supremacy. Reagan is their man, a former corporate spokesperson and actor.

Trump may have gleefully embraced the MAGA mantle in 2016, but it's Reagan who first tries it on, in 1980. He uses it as a subtle backdrop to his aw-shucks appearances, which seem to radiate confidence and repel criticism.

In the Mideast, two Muslim nations have also just acquired new leaders. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein speaks of restoring the honor of Iraq's glorious past. In Iran, a deeply conservative cleric seeks to turn back the clock centuries.
Hussein and Khomeini, 1980s map

  Big Changes
The change in Iran is startling.  Gone is the old leader (top right), who was put in power by the US to maintain western control of Iranian oilfields. He is replaced after a tumultuous revolution by a stern Muslim cleric, seemingly from an earlier century (lower right). In neighboring Iraq, Saddam Hussein seizes the moment to attack , while Iran is still in the throes of revolution.

Iran hostage crisis, 1979

  US Embassy Stormed
Revolutionary Iranian zealots, led by students, storm the gates of the US embassy in the Iranian capital of Tehran. They march 53 captives out in blindfolds, to be held hostage for the entire year-long presidential campaign. There's nothing Carter can do about it. Iranians are filled with righteous anger against the US, which installed the Shah after secretly staging a coup to remove a moderate, democratically-elected, democracy-loving leader.  


Reagan revolution, 1980s

  Man of the Hour
The hostage crisis plays perfectly into the hands of Ronald Reagan, who merely waits out the election year, smiling broadly, while Carter twists and turns in the wind. Meanwhile, Reagan cozies up to right-wing religious leaders, who are eager to be buddies with the conservative Republican. Reagan wins in a landslide, while Iran releases the hostages right after the election, as a final snub to Carter. Soon, the hippies are out, replaced by proper business-oriented Republicans, like the Wall Street interns at lower right.