Born in 1956 in New York City, Tony Kushner moved with his family to Louisiana shortly thereafter. Kushner's mother was an actress, and he credits her performances with inspiring him to go into theater. Kushner studied theater back in New York, graduating with a master's in fine arts from New York University in 1984. He went on to write several plays before creating Angels in America, a seven-hour drama separated into two parts that deal with, among other issues, the experiences of being gay and contracting the disease AIDS in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.
Reagan's America. The two-term presidency of Republican Ronald Reagan (1981-89) set the tone for American life in the 1980s. Riding a wave of conservatism in religion, social policy, and international relations, Reagan made cuts in federal social welfare, education, and environmental spending and in funds for the arts. At the same time, his administration increased the defense budget astronomically and halted antitrust investigations against big business. Among Reagan's major achievements was the passage of two landmark tax bills, reducing the personal income tax rate, in some cases by up to 42 percent.
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