This is a list of people and subjects appearing on the cover of Time magazine in the 1980s. Time was first published in 1923. As Time became established as one of the United States' leading news magazines, an appearance on the cover of Time became an indicator of notability, fame or notoriety. Such features were accompanied by articles.
For other decades, see Lists of covers of Time magazine.
1980
January 7 – Ayatollah Khomeini, Man of the Year
January 14 – Moscow's Bold Challenge
January 21 – Grain as a Weapon: Who Wins, Who Loses
January 28 – Squeezing the Soviets
February 4 – Jimmy Carter
February 11 – Eric and Beth Heiden
February 18 – Operation Abscam: The FBI Stings Congress
February 25 – Dan Rather
March 3 – Peter Sellers
March 10 – Ronald Reagan
March 17 – Diplomacy In Crisis
March 24 – Jimmy Carter
March 31 – Interferon: The IF Drug for Cancer
April 7 – T.A. Wilson
April 14 – The Palestinians
April 21 – Is Capitalism Working? April 28 – Jimmy Carter May 5 – Jimmy Carter May 12 – Edmund Muskie May 19 – Darth Vader May 26 – Picasso June 2 – The Big Blowup (Mount St. Helens) June 9 – Who'll Fight for America? The manpower Crisis June 16 – Help! Teacher Can't Teach June 23 – Inside the U.S.S.R. June 30 – Björn Borg July 7 – Rediscovering America July 14 – That Aching Back July 21 – Feeling Super in Detroit (G.O.P. Convention) July 28 – Ronald Reagan & George H. W. Bush August 4 – Billy Carter August 11 – Larry Hagman as J.R. August 18 – Jimmy Carter August 25 – Jimmy Carter September 1 – Poland's Angry Workers September 8 – Thomas Murphy, Philip Caldwell & Lee Iacocca September 15 – The U.S. Voter September 22 – Poisoning of America: Those Toxic Chemical Wastes September 29 – Bear Bryant October 6 – War in the Gulf (Iran–Iraq War) October 13 – Jimmy Carter & Ronald Reagan October 20 – Carl Sagan October 27 – The Gulf: Will It Explode? November 3 – Jimmy Carter & Ronald Reagan November 10 – The Hostage Drama November 17 – Ronald Reagan November 24 – Saturn: Encounter in Space December 1 – Jane Pauley, Gene Shalit, Willard Scott, Tom Brokaw, David Hartman, Charles Kuralt & Joan Lunden December 8 – The Robot Revolution December 15 – Rocky Mountain High December 22 – John Lennon December 29 – Lech Walesa
1981
January 5 – Ronald Reagan, Man of the Year
January 12 – Aiming High: Space Shuttle Columbia
January 19 – Reagan's Biggest Challenge: Mending the Economy
January 26 – The Hostages: Breakthrough
February 2 – The Ordeal Ends: And the Outrage Grows
February 9 – Brooke Shields
February 16 – Margaret Thatcher
February 23 – American Renewal
March 2 – The Ax Fall: Reagan's Plan for a "New Beginning" March 9 – Herbert Boyer March 16 – Alexander Haig March 23 – The Curse of Violent Crime March 30 – How Japan Does It: The World's Toughest Competitor April 6 – Abortion: The Battle of Life vs "Choice" April 13 – Ronald Reagan April 20 – Lady Diana April 27 – Right On: Winging Into New Era (first orbital flight of NASA Space Shuttle Program) May 4 – The Money Chase: What Business Schools Are Doing To Us May 11 – Billy Martin May 18 – Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres May 25 – Terrorist's Target: Why Did They Do It? (Pope John Paul II assassination attempt) June 1 – Heart Attacks: New Insights, New Treatments June 8 – The Savings Revolution: Everybody wants Your Money June 15 – Ed Koch June 23 – Attack—and Fallout: The Target: Iraq's Reactor June 30 – François Mitterrand July 6 – High on Cocaine: A Drug with Status and Menace July 13 – Viet Nam Vets: Fighting for their Rights July 20 – Sandra Day O'Connor July 27 – Caspar Weinberger August 3 – Prince Charles & Lady Diana (wedding) August 10 – Ice Cream: Getting Your Licks August 17 – Winging It: Coping Without Controllers August 24 – James Rouse August 31 – John Irving September 7 – Meryl Streep September 14 – Jesse Helms September 21 – Ronald Reagan September 28 – We, the Jury October 5 – Dicken's Nicholas Nickelby cast October 12 – No Free Lunch: Cost of Entitlements October 19 – Anwar Sadat October 26 – Arming the World: What Are the Limits November 2 – The Fitness Craze: America Shapes Up November 9 – Ronald Reagan November 16 – Katharine Hepburn & Henry Fonda November 23 – Paradise Lost? South Florida November 30 – Europe's Fear and a Bold U.S. Proposal December 7 – Cats (a white cat) December 14 – The President's Men: How the White House Works—And Doesn't December 21 – Muammar Gaddafi December 28 – Wojciech Jaruzelski