We can tell a lot about a decade by the people (or things in this case) chosen by Time Magazine as their person of the year. It gives us a sense of the important events and societal changes that were going on during the 1980s.
1980
Ronald Reagan
(b.1911–d.2004)
1981
Lech Wałęsa
(b.1943)
1982
The Computer (first non-human “abstract” chosen)
1983
Ronald Reagan (b.1911–d.2004) (2nd time)
& Yuri Andropov
(b.1914–d.1984)
1984
Peter Ueberroth
(b.1937)
1985
Deng Xiaoping
(b.1904–d.1997)
(2nd time)
1986
Corazón Aquino
(b.1933-d.2009)
1987
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (b.1931)
1988
Endangered Earth
(“Planet of the Year”)
1989
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (b.1931)
(Man of the Decade)