Has anybody ever noticed how decade culture and cultural shifts tend to coincide with Presidential changes, especially in the US?  Sometimes its also not necessarily who is President but the party that is in power.  You see this in the '70s when the Carter '70s had a different feel and culture than the Nixon '70s. It's also interesting that the shift into the '90s held off until Clinton was President.  The early '90s under Bush was for the most part an extension of the 1980s.  Lets take a look at the last century.

Coolidge(Republican) 1923-1929 - Roaring '20s
Hoover (Republican) 1929-1933 - Depression
FDR (Democrat) 1933-1945 - New Deal/WWII
Truman (Democrat) 1945-1953 - Atomic Age/Rise of Superpower America
Eisenhower (Republican) 1953-1961 - 1950s
Kennedy/Johnson (Democrat) 1961-1969 - The Sixties
Nixon/Ford (Republican) 1969-1977 - The Nixon '70s
Carter (Democrat) 1977-1981 - The Carter '70s
Reagan/Bush (Republican) 1981-1993 - The '80s
Clinton (Democrat) 1993-2001 - The '90s
Bush (Republican) 2001-2009 - The '00s
Obama (Democrat) 2009-Present - The '10s

Most years of great cultural shift happened around the time of the changing of the President and/or party in the White House.  These are the years that I would consider major cultural milestones in the last century.  Notice a trend?

1923, 1929, 1933, 1945, 1953, 1962, 1969, 1976, 1981, 1993, 2001, and 2008.

It might be subconscious, we don't even know we're doing it. I know what you're talking about though.

My opinon
Coolidge(Republican) 1923-1929 - Roaring '20s
Hoover (Republican) 1929-1933 - Depression 30s
FDR (Democrat) 1933-1945 - New Deal/WWII
Truman (Democrat) 1945-1953 - Atomic Age/Rise of Superpower America
Eisenhower/JFK 1953-1963- the 1950s
Johnson/Nixon 1963-1973- The Sixties
Ford/carter(Republican) 1974-1981-the 70s
Reagan/Bush (Republican) 1981-1993 - The '80s
Clinton (Democrat) 1993-2001 - The '90s
Bush (Republican) 2001-2008/09-The '00s
Obama (Democrat) 2009-Present - The '10s

Going back further:

George Washington/John Adams (1789-1801): New Constitution/Federalist Era
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809): Louisiana Purchase/exploration of the Midwest
James Madison (1809-1817): War of 1812
James Monroe/John Quincy Adams (1817-1829): Era of Good Feelings
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837): The Democratic Era
Martin Van Buren(1837-1841): Panic and depression
William Henry Harrison/John Tyler (1841-1845): The Whig Era
James Polk/Zachary Taylor: (1845-1850): Manifest Destiny/Mexican War
Millard Fillmore/Franklin Pierce/James Buchanan (1850-1861): The Antebellum Era
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865): The Civil War
Andrew Johnson/Ulysses S. Grant (1865-1877): Reconstruction
Rutherford B. Hayes/James A. Garfield/Chester A. Arthur/Grover Cleveland/Benjamin Harrison/William McKinley (1877-1901): The Gilded Age (an era that's hard to define that sometimes includes part of all of the Reconstruction era and sometimes as late as the Twenties), but this defines it the best. The "Gay Nineties" includes Harrison, Cleveland's second term, and Mckinley's presidency, and was the first real "decade culture", mostly in the West.
Theodore Roosevelt/William H. Taft (1901-1913): The Progressive Era/Turn of the (20th) Century
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1919): World War I era. Many Progressive Era ideals were still being used.
William Harding (1919-1923): Recession and recovery, transitional between the WWI era and "Roaring Twenties".

I agree mostly with Eazy-EMAN1995 for Coolidge to present.

I'd say it's more the presidents reflect the general attitude of the times. But I can see people equating the Reagan/Bush years and the Thatcher years with the "greater eighties", yes.

I honestly think the President that is gonna be elected after Obama is going to define the 2010s. After all, the last four years are the most important and iconic, and the 2016 Presidential Election is probably going to reflect that.

I honestly think the President that is gonna be elected after Obama is going to define the 2010s. After all, the last four years are the most important and iconic, and the 2016 Presidential Election is probably going to reflect that.

I always thought the middle part of the decade was the heart of a decade. with the exception of the 60s and probably the 70s which peaked latter!

In the UK, the 80s are associated with Margaret Thacher, who was PM from 1979 to 1990. The next PM, John Major, was in office from late 1990 to May 1997. Tony Blair was PM from May 1997 (just before the 'millennium era') to June 2007 (towards the end of the core 00s). Gordon Brown was PM from June 2007 to May 2010 which includes some of the 'financial crisis era'. Finally, David Cameron has been PM since May 2010 - the iPad/smartphone era!

George Washington and John Adams - 1790's (Founding Era)
Thomas Jefferson - 1800's (Jeffersonian Era)
James Madison - 1810's (War of 1812; America recognizes its vulnerability for the first time)
James Monroe and John Quincy Adams - 1820's (Partyless Era)
Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren - 1830's (Age of Jackson)
William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and James K. Polk - 1840's (Manifest Destiny Era)
Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan - 1850's (Pre-Civil War Era)
Abraham Lincoln - 1860's (Civil War)
Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant - 1870's (Reconstruction Era)
Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison - 1880's (Gilded Age)
Grover Cleveland and William McKinley - 1890's (America becomes a global nation)
Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft - 1900's (Republican Progressive Age)
Woodrow Wilson - 1910's (Democratic Progressive Age)
Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge - 1920's (Roaring 20s)
Herbert Hoover and FDR - 1930's (Great Depression)
FDR - 1940's (World War II)
Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy - 1950's (Postwar Prosperity Age)
Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon - 1960's (Vietnam and Civil Rights Era)
Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter - 1970's (Stagflation Era)
Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush - 1980's (Conservative Resurgence and the End of the Cold War)
Bill Clinton - 1990's (NAFTA and Dot Com Era)
George W. Bush - 2000's (Post-9/11 Era)
Barack Obama - 2010's (Social Media Era)

Barack Obama - 2010's (Social Media Era)


So you basically think the 2010s are going to end in 2016?

So you basically think the 2010s are going to end in 2016?


If a Democratic president wins, it could be seen as like George H.W. Bush was to Reagan and could simply represent the late phase of the 2010s, especially if a one-term president. Of course if the next president is Republican, it could be like a Richard Nixon that seemingly blends two decades together especially if he lasts two terms (Woodstock/Man on the Moon in his first year is definitively "sixties", while Watergate and the Energy Crisis in his last year is definitvely "seventies"), while a one-term president would be grouped with Obama despite potentially being different.

That said, in the UK, Tony Blair despite not being elected until 1997 is often seen as a '90s PM despite the majority of his tenure occuring during the '00s, with John Major, the PM during the majority of the '90s is usually seen as overshadowed by Thatcher and Blair. Gordon Brown tends to be seen more as the '00s PM since the financial crisis was by far the UK's definitive moment of its decade, with David Cameron of course representing the '10s.

Yeah, I don't think the cultural 2010s are going to end for still another several years because nothing significant yet has started to erode the decade's core aspects.  You could easily predict in 1989 that the cultural 80s were on their way out, due to the end of the Cold War and the stock market having crashed two years prior, or the 90s coming to an end in 1998, due to the rise of nu-metal and the standardization of internet culture, but very little currently distinguishes 2015 from a year like 2013.  Technology has not really evolved drastically since 2011, as people still primarily rely on tablet devices and social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for everyday matters.  Popular music is still predominantly EDM and indie-influenced, with an extravagantly cosmopolitan overtone.  The decade's fervent protest culture is still driving national headlines, even though mainstream attention has progressed beyond gay rights and more towards transgender and African American issues in the past couple of years.  The backlash against the current decade's culture is definitely present (as is always the case), but it has not yet materialized into something coherent enough to drastically reshape youth lifestyles and world views.  I think sometime after the 2016 election, 2010s culture will definitely start to show its age more, whether through a Republican White House victory or a failed Hillary Clinton presidency, but as of right now, the decade's culture very much seems to be in its peak period.

Yeah, I don't think the cultural 2010s are going to end for still another several years because nothing significant yet has started to erode the decade's core aspects.  You could easily predict in 1989 that the cultural 80s were on their way out, due to the end of the Cold War and the stock market having crashed two years prior, or the 90s coming to an end in 1998, due to the rise of nu-metal and the standardization of internet culture, but very little currently distinguishes 2015 from a year like 2013.  Technology has not really evolved drastically since 2011, as people still primarily rely on tablet devices and social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for everyday matters.  Popular music is still predominantly EDM and indie-influenced, with an extravagantly cosmopolitan overtone.  The decade's fervent protest culture is still driving national headlines, even though mainstream attention has progressed beyond gay rights and more towards transgender and African American issues in the past couple of years.  The backlash against the current decade's culture is definitely present (as is always the case), but it has not yet materialized into something coherent enough to drastically reshape youth lifestyles and world views.  I think sometime after the 2016 election, 2010s culture will definitely start to show its age more, whether through a Republican White House victory or a failed Hillary Clinton presidency, but as of right now, the decade's culture very much seems to be in its peak period.


Actually, I think everything that has happened in 2010-2015 had been just a continuation (and an evolution) of what emerged to prominence in the mid-late 2000's.

Since 2006, it's been all about social media, hipsters, skinny jeans, beards, electronic music, gay rights, liberal politics, global warming, beards, and '80s-inspired music. People already associate most of these things with the 2000's.

With my philosophy, it's always the last four years that decade stereotypes form.

We'll use the 1970's as an example. Folk music was really popular then. It was also popular in the 1960's. However, it's popularity didn't make it to 1976. By then, Arena Rock (think Toto-style rock) became the dominant form, as well as the first really big year for Disco. Folk music, however, was really huge in the mid-late '60s. Think of Bob Dylan and Don McLean. They were very popular for a good portion of the '70s, but they are ultimately a 1960's thing.

It's the same with hair metal. It was popular for the first four years of the '90s (1990-1993), but it lasted for four years in the '80s too (1986-1989). However, it's associated with the '80s. It's actually the stereotype of the decade.

It would make perfect sense for the 1990s stereotype to be Hip-Hop music (2Pac, Coolio, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Total, Puffy, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Biggie Smalls, Mase, etc.) and fashion (Jerseys and baggy jeans for guys, Halter tops and metallic skirts for girls). Hip-hop became the biggest selling genre by the mid-1990s.

Since there's always a pattern, who's to say that people are going to remember the 2010s for current trends? I think people will largely forget everything that was of importance from 2010-2015. There have been very little, if any, positive outcomes from these current trends. This has been a really bland decade for music.

Proof that hip-hop became the most popular genre by the mid '90s: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/07/hiphop-heritage-public-enemy-krs-one

Actually, I think everything that has happened in 2010-2015 had been just a continuation (and an evolution) of what emerged to prominence in the mid-late 2000's.

Since 2006, it's been all about social media, hipsters, skinny jeans, beards, electronic music, gay rights, liberal politics, global warming, beards, and '80s-inspired music. People already associate most of these things with the 2000's.

With my philosophy, it's always the last four years that decade stereotypes form.

We'll use the 1970's as an example. Folk music was really popular then. It was also popular in the 1960's. However, it's popularity didn't make it to 1976. By then, Arena Rock (think Toto-style rock) became the dominant form, as well as the first really big year for Disco. Folk music, however, was really huge in the mid-late '60s. Think of Bob Dylan and Don McLean. They were very popular for a good portion of the '70s, but they are ultimately a 1960's thing.

It's the same with hair metal. It was popular for the first four years of the '90s (1990-1993), but it lasted for four years in the '80s too (1986-1989). However, it's associated with the '80s. It's actually the stereotype of the decade.

It would make perfect sense for the 1990s stereotype to be Hip-Hop music (2Pac, Coolio, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Total, Puffy, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Biggie Smalls, Mase, etc.) and fashion (Jerseys and baggy jeans for guys, Halter tops and metallic skirts for girls). Hip-hop became the biggest selling genre by the mid-1990s.

Since there's always a pattern, who's to say that people are going to remember the 2010s for current trends? I think people will largely forget everything that was of importance from 2010-2015. There have been very little, if any, positive outcomes from these current trends. This has been a really bland decade for music.

Proof that hip-hop became the most popular genre by the mid '90s: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/07/hiphop-heritage-public-enemy-krs-one

I have a question; Do you think that the Obama years are an extension of the bush years? Cause I don't!

So you basically think the 2010s are going to end in 2016?

Honestly, Infinity should have put Barack Obama/???(However wins the 2016 election): the 2010's!
If a republican wins there will defiantly be change in the 10s era! BUT if ANOTHER democrat wins or Hilary wins; the previous 10s era will continue in a more evolved way!

I have a question; Do you think that the Obama years are an extension of the bush years? Cause I don't!


They aren't an extension of the Bush years - they're an extension of the rebellion against the Bush Administration years while President George W. Bush was still in office.

Think of it like this (or rather, see how I think of it): During the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats won by a huge majority and the Republicans lost a lot of spots in the office. That was in rebellion against Bush (who was unpopular then, yet was still popular only two years earlier!) and it shifted people's interests in politics. That year was when people started to focus more on social issues and less on economic issues, which continues today. I'd say this liberal movement peaked in the early 2010s - 2011-2013. Those years possibly couldn't get any more liberal (especially 2013!!), and I'd say this was a big contributor to Obama's re-election. I think the 2014 midterm elections marked the decline and people's weariness in this period.

Pop culture is affected by politics, so it also influenced a pop culture shift (especially in fashion and lingo).

Actually, I think everything that has happened in 2010-2015 had been just a continuation (and an evolution) of what emerged to prominence in the mid-late 2000's.

Since 2006, it's been all about social media, hipsters, skinny jeans, beards, electronic music, gay rights, liberal politics, global warming, beards, and '80s-inspired music. People already associate most of these things with the 2000's.

These things were definitely starting to surface beginning in 2006, but they didn't completely overtake the urban, War on Terror, pop punk/post-grunge, snap/crunk, DVD culture of the noughties until around 2008-2009.  Similarly, grunge existed way way in 1990 (Alice in Chains' Man in the Box was a radio hit before Smells Like Teen Spirit!), while 80s-esque Blondie and the Cars were popular in 1979, well before MTV, but these things were but harbingers of the upcoming decade, not cruxes in the evolution of popular culture.

We'll use the 1970's as an example. Folk music was really popular then. It was also popular in the 1960's. However, it's popularity didn't make it to 1976. By then, Arena Rock (think Toto-style rock) became the dominant form, as well as the first really big year for Disco. Folk music, however, was really huge in the mid-late '60s. Think of Bob Dylan and Don McLean. They were very popular for a good portion of the '70s, but they are ultimately a 1960's thing.

I agree with this statement, but the cultural 60s occurred relatively late compared to their calendar counterpart.  In my personal opinion, the true 60s began in late 1963, with the JFK assassination, British Invasion, and beginning of the Vietnam War, and ended in early 1973, with the Paris Peace Accord, Oil Embargo, revelations of the Watergate Scandal, and disco's mainstream breakthrough with Love Train.

It's the same with hair metal. It was popular for the first four years of the '90s (1990-1993), but it lasted for four years in the '80s too (1986-1989). However, it's associated with the '80s. It's actually the stereotype of the decade.

Hair metal was pretty big as far back as 1983, though.  The beginning of that year saw the release of Def Leppard's gigantic Pyromania album, which was soon followed by mainstream successes by Twisted Sister (We're Not Gonna Take It), Motley Crue (Shout at the Devil), Ratt (Round and Round), and Quiet Riot (Cum on Feel the Noize), among others.  Furthermore, very few hair metal songs from the early 90s are really considered hallmarks of the genre, aside maybe from a few power ballads like Kiss' Forever and Extreme's More Than Words.  I think in general hair metal broke into the mainstream during 1983-1985, peaked in 1986-1989, and steadily declined from 1990-1992.  Some better examples of what you're describing would be things like new jack swing, old school hip hop, shows like Saved by the Bell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Full House; and the original NES.

Honestly, Infinity should have put Barack Obama/???(However wins the 2016 election): the 2010's!
If a republican wins there will defiantly be change in the 10s era! BUT if ANOTHER democrat wins or Hilary wins; the previous 10s era will continue in a more evolved way!

I only stopped at Obama because he's still the incumbent president, but as things are going now, I do in fact predict the next president to be far more associated with the 2010s than the 2020s.

They aren't an extension of the Bush years - they're an extension of the rebellion against the Bush Administration years while President George W. Bush was still in office.

Think of it like this (or rather, see how I think of it): During the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats won by a huge majority and the Republicans lost a lot of spots in the office. That was in rebellion against Bush (who was unpopular then, yet was still popular only two years earlier!) and it shifted people's interests in politics. That year was when people started to focus more on social issues and less on economic issues, which continues today. I'd say this liberal movement peaked in the early 2010s - 2011-2013. Those years possibly couldn't get any more liberal (especially 2013!!), and I'd say this was a big contributor to Obama's re-election. I think the 2014 midterm elections marked the decline and people's weariness in this period.

Pop culture is affected by politics, so it also influenced a pop culture shift (especially in fashion and lingo).


The focus on social issues (gay marriage, abortion) has been a hallmark of politics since the 1980s.  It was kicked into high gear in 2004 when Bush was running for his second term.  Since then, the pendulum on those issues has shifted from favoring conservatives to favoring liberals. The shift really occurred in the 2008-10 timeframe. I think if the supreme court legalizes gay marriage this month nationwide, then the 2016 election will be the last election where that issue is the focus.  In 2020, it should be back to issues that really affect a majority of Americans.

I predict a Democrat will win in 2016.  People are still focused on social issues and that favors the liberals right now.  However, its rare that a single party stays in the White House more than 12 years so a Republican in 2020 may be possible.  By that point, maybe people will have accepted that gay marriage is not the end of the USA and the Republican Party will pick something else to run on.

I agree that the President from 2017-2021 will be a '10s President.  Depending on how things go, history may remember him/her as more significant than Obama.  Carter is viewed by most as the "70s President" yet he was only President during the last four years of the decade.

I predict a Democrat will win in 2016.  People are still focused on social issues and that favors the liberals right now.  However, its rare that a single party stays in the White House more than 12 years so a Republican in 2020 may be possible.  By that point, maybe people will have accepted that gay marriage is not the end of the USA and the Republican Party will pick something else to run on.

I think a red victory in 2016 is actually quite likely.  For one thing, the Republican Party is already starting to move closer towards the center, with more and more of its members favoring gay rights and gun control, not to mention its interest in attracting more Latino voters in the 2016 election, hence strong considerations for Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush to run for office.  I think during the first several years of Obama's administration, mainstream popular culture vilified the core Republican Party as extremely old and backwards (represented by the Tea Party and opposition to minority rights), but now that the economy is much improved, social rights have massively progressed, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are over (replaced instead with the threat of ISIS), Obamacare is a worn-out topic, and the party's right wing has been mostly discredited, the scene is much riper for the Republicans to win the White House in 2016.  The 2012 election between Obama and Romney wasn't that lopsided, and the social environment of that period was more favorable to the Democrats than now.

The focus on social issues (gay marriage, abortion) has been a hallmark of politics since the 1980s.  It was kicked into high gear in 2004 when Bush was running for his second term.  Since then, the pendulum on those issues has shifted from favoring conservatives to favoring liberals. The shift really occurred in the 2008-10 timeframe. I think if the supreme court legalizes gay marriage this month nationwide, then the 2016 election will be the last election where that issue is the focus.  In 2020, it should be back to issues that really affect a majority of Americans.

I predict a Democrat will win in 2016.  People are still focused on social issues and that favors the liberals right now.  However, its rare that a single party stays in the White House more than 12 years so a Republican in 2020 may be possible.  By that point, maybe people will have accepted that gay marriage is not the end of the USA and the Republican Party will pick something else to run on.

I agree that the President from 2017-2021 will be a '10s President.  Depending on how things go, history may remember him/her as more significant than Obama.  Carter is viewed by most as the "70s President" yet he was only President during the last four years of the decade.

I think Obama and whoever wins the 2016 election will both be viewed as 10s presidents! Kinda like I view Carter AND Ford as the presidents of the 70s; then again that wasn't a great example! lol A better example is how people see Truman and Eisenhower as both 50s presidents!