Lame duck President Reagan, 1988

What power does the outgoing President Reagan really hold?

• 15 mins

Nancy Reagan's astrologer, 1988

New book exposes First Lady's use of astrologer to dictate the president's diary.

• 14 mins

Golf in Russia

Never mind the summit, the news is out that golf is coming to Russia.

• 14 mins

Bush will win it

Dukakis faces too many hurdles to overcome the Reagan feel-good factor.

• 14 mins

The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door of 1963

The 25th anniversary of the desegregation of the University of Alabama.

• 15 mins

Goodbye to men's clubs

Supreme Court rules that all-male clubs discriminate.

• 14 mins

Seeing justice done

Television simplifies court cases to a point where they are seen as a sports contest.

• 14 mins

Iran Air Flight 655

An Iranian civilian airliner is shot down by US missiles killing all on board.

• 15 mins

Indict and remand

The purpose and history of the US Grand Jury, the meanings of indict and remand.

• 15 mins

Democratic National Convention, 1988

Michael Dukakis is nominated as presidential candidate at the 1988 Democratic convention.

• 15 mins

America's polluted waters

The polluted state of America's waters, coastline and lakes.

• 15 mins

Day care and recreation

The unexpected success of the newspaper USA Today; day care becomes an election issue.

• 15 mins

Ed Koch, Mayor of New York

A look at the daily tasks and problems faced by New York's mayor Ed Koch.

• 15 mins

President Reagan’s final Republican Convention

President Reagan gives his farewell address at the Republican convention in Kansas.

• 15 mins

Dan Quayle for vice president

George H W Bush chooses Dan Quayle as Vice-Presidential candidate.

• 15 mins

Etiquette for presidential candidates and the heat wave of Summer 1988

When presidential candidates only talked policy, and when Adlai Stephenson broke the rule.

• 15 mins

Yellowstone National Park, 1988

Yellowstone centre is saved from wildfires which have destroyed a million acres.

• 14 mins

The Democratic outsider

Could Michael Dukakis learn from Jimmy Carter when campaigning for the 1988 election?

• 15 mins

Hurricane Gilbert

The destruction caused by Hurricane Gilbert, and the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.

• 15 mins

Looking good on TV

Forget the issues, the most important political feat is to look good on television.

• 14 mins

1988 televised debates, and Thatcher in 1979

Has the campaign for the 1988 presidential election become too sterile?

• 15 mins

Testing public opinion

Vice-presidential debate could sway public opinion on main candidate.

• 14 mins

Baseball and politics in 1988

Do the baseball metaphors of the 1988 presidential candidates endear them to the public?

• 15 mins

The Bess Myerson trial begins

The Bess Myerson trial, often referred to as "the Bess mess", begins in New York.

• 15 mins

George H W Bush vs Michael Dukakis

A profile of the Democratic and Republic contenders for the White House in 1988.

• 15 mins

The 1988 presidential election

George Bush's victory in the 1988 election, and the complexity of a modern ballot paper.

• 15 mins

A dirty campaign

Commentators agree the campaign was the dirtiest 'in living memory'.

• 14 mins

Fears over US deficit

Greenspan warns that Bush will face economic woe.

• 14 mins

Yasser Arafat's speech at the UN, 1988

A milestone in Middle Eastern politics as Yasser Arafat is invited to speak at the UN.

• 15 mins

Gorbachev's perilous experiment

Soviet leader addresses UN as first cracks widen in the Eastern bloc.

• 14 mins