The 1980s and early 1990s were remarkable for the triumph of conservatism in the United States and its closest allies. The victories of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the United States were complemented by the electoral successes of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Brian Mulroney in Canada. The relationship between Reagan and Bush and their conservative counterparts was particularly important in providing a united front on foreign policy, whether the target was the Soviet Union, Communist insurgencies in Africa or Latin America, or Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Reagan-Bush era witnessed some of the most dramatic events of the latter half of the twentieth century: the collapse of the Soviet Union, a presidential assassination attempt, political scandal, a stock market crash, military invasions, and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
The Historical Dictionary of the Reagan-Bush Era relates these events and provides extensive political, economic, and social background on this era through a detailed chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, events, institutions, policies, and issues.