“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . . .” Charles Dickens wrote those words in 1859, and historians have been borrowing them ever since! Explain how they apply to the United States between 1980 and the present.

The reason historians have been borrowing these words ever since they were written is probably because, in fact, they can be readily manipulated or interpreted to apply to almost any point in time. In this quotation, Dickens could be understood to be saying one, or both, of two things:
1. That the world at the time he is describing was one of extremes—at once both the "best" and the "worst" of times, as activity prevailed at both ends of the spectrum. This is not a peaceful time with little change.
2. That the world could not be straightforwardly categorized either as exciting and good or as concerning and bad; it was, simultaneously, both, with some people experiencing a high point while others suffered. Societies are not homogenous, and sometimes those on one side of a political spectrum have an entirely different outlook on events to those on the other.
It's easy to see how these concepts can be applied, then, to the United States from 1980 to the present day. This has been a very turbulent period for the nation, marked by highs and lows, economic growth and then crashing recession. At the same time, the political landscape of the nation has become more and more divided, with increasing social liberalism being met with reactionary conservative upswings. Some key points to consider:
1. The US began the 1980s in a world still partially under communism, in the middle of an economic crisis. During the Reagan administration, the country went through an economic turnaround, and communism began to fall across Europe, so the decade which had started out so grimly ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall and ushered in . . .
2. . . . The 1990s, a decade of economic prosperity for the United States. This decade was characterized by its huge economic growth. Notably, as the economy began to recover and America became "happier," a backlash against Reagan's conservatism also arose, and Bill Clinton was elected. Throughout the 1990s, buoyancy following the fall of communism prompted the "end of history" doctrine, as even China and Russia seemed to be on course for more liberal thinking and the economy was becoming globalized. However—
3. This thinking was soon put to bed with the 2001 attacks on New York. Under Bush's presidency, conservatism was once again on the rise in the United States; the War on Terror dominated this decade, prompting another swing to the left as many questioned its morals.
4. The next swing in attitude is marked by the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the USA. A reaction to the conservatism of Bush's administration, the Obama era was a halcyon time for many on the left, with legislation such as the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the equal marriage bill a cause for celebration for many. At the same time, however, for many on the right, this was not "the best of times" at all—on the contrary, it drove the rise of the "alt-right" and groundswells of support in disadvantaged communities for Donald Trump.
5. The present day sees the United States as a deeply divided nation, politically, while tensions on the world stage are once again high, particularly with regard to Russia. The era has seemingly come full circle, as each extreme change prompts dissatisfaction from those for whom it represented "the worst of times," rather than the converse.