On 3 September 1983 David Bergland, a lawyer from California, won the Libertarian Party nomination for president. He opposed taxes, domestic spending, and involvement in foreign affairs and pledged to sell the national parks.

William Buckley, first secretary of the political section of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, was kidnapped by Arab extremists on March 1984. He was the third American abducted in Beirut in three weeks. On 20 January 1987 it was revealed that Buckley, who was alleged to have been chief of CIA operations in Lebanon, had been slain by his captors.

On 12 April 1988 Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) announced that he would step down as head Senate Democrat after eleven years as majority or minority leader.

In February 1982 Juanita Castro, sister of Cuban president Fidel Castro, became a citizen of the United States, underscoring her political differences with her brother.