1980s

The United States in the 1980s was defined by a number of trends, including a recommitment to the tenets of capitalism and the rise of the New Right. "Yuppie" became shorthand for a population of young, urban professionals. While initially a neutral term, it ultimately morphed to symbolize people in contrast to the more free-spirited and anti-materialist hippies of the 1960s.

Yuppies comprised a wide demographic, from disgruntled liberals to evangelical Christians to people simply arguing for more conservative reforms in the government. Many of these people were part of the New Right, a conservative political movement which emerged during the 1970s. They were growing disillusioned by the idealism of the 1960s and the early 1970s.

The presidency of Ronald...