Chapter 50: The Troubles of Growing Up

In January 1986, the Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its launch, disintegrating in the air.

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Ronald Reagan postponed his State of the Union address to February to mourn the seven astronauts who perished on the Challenger.

The explosion seemed to herald the gradual downhill slide of the economic recovery that had begun in 1982.

Throughout 1985, All-America's GDP growth failed to meet the expectations set in 1984, as America was facing a significant challenge from an emerging economy—Japan.

In September 1985, America, along with Japan, Germany, and several other countries, signed the Plaza Accord at the Plaza Hotel in New York, intervening in the foreign exchange market to devalue the US Dollar in a bid to stimulate American manufacturing exports.