Time Magazine's Person of the Year: 1980 - 1989

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 (1911–2004)
1981: Lech Wałęsa (b. 1943)
1982: The Computer (first non-human "abstract" chosen)
1983: Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) (2nd time) and Yuri
         Andropov (1914–1984)
1984: Peter Ueberroth (b. 1937)
1985: Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) (2nd time)
1986: Corazón Aquino (b. 1933)
1987: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (b. 1931)
1988: Endangered Earth ("Planet of the Year")
1989: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (b. 1931) (Man of the
         Decade)