The 1970s weren't just about bad hair and questionable linoleum. Honestly, if you look at the DNA of our current world—everything from the phones in our pockets to the way we argue about politics—it all traces back to a handful of people who were running the show fifty years ago. It’s wild. We think of it as a "lost decade" between the swinging sixties and the flashy eighties, but that’s just plain wrong.
The important people in the 1970's didn't just live through history; they bent it. They broke the old rules of how a President should act, how a rock star should look, and how a computer should function. You had Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak tinkering in a garage while, simultaneously, figures like Gloria Steinem were fundamentally rewriting the social contract for millions of women. It was a messy, loud, and incredibly transformative era that shaped the modern human experience in ways we usually take for granted.
The Political Giants Who Broke the Mold
When people think of 1970s politics, they usually think of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. It’s the obvious choice. But Nixon is just one side of a very complex coin. His resignation in 1974 changed the way the public viewed the government forever. Before Nixon, there was a baseline of trust. After him? Cynicism became the default setting for the American voter. It wasn't just about a break-in; it was about the death of an illusion.
Then you have someone like Margaret Thatcher. She became the UK's first female Prime Minister in 1979, but her influence started way before that. She was the "Iron Lady" before the term even became a cliché. Thatcherism wasn't just a political platform; it was a total overhaul of the British economy, prioritizing the individual over the collective state. Love her or hate her—and believe me, there is very little middle ground there—you can't argue that she wasn't one of the most important people in the 1970's for setting the stage for global neoliberalism.
On the other side of the world, Deng Xiaoping was doing something arguably even more radical. After Mao Zedong died in 1976, Deng took the reins of a struggling China. He started the "Reform and Opening-up" policy. He basically looked at the global economy and decided China needed to be a part of it, leading to the "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" that eventually turned the country into a global superpower. Most people forget that the seeds of the modern 21st-century economy weren't planted in Silicon Valley, but in the policy shifts Deng pushed in the late 70s.
Culture Shifters and the Birth of the Modern Icon
The 70s were weird for entertainment. You had the rise of the blockbuster, but also the gritty, "New Hollywood" cinema that didn't care about happy endings.
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Take David Bowie. People talk about him as a musician, but he was more like a cultural architect. In the early 70s, he introduced Ziggy Stardust. It wasn't just a gimmick. He was challenging gender norms and the very idea of identity at a time when that was genuinely dangerous to do. He made it okay to be a "freak." He showed that you could reinvent yourself every few years, a lesson that every modern pop star from Madonna to Lady Gaga has followed to the letter.
Then there’s Steven Spielberg. Before 1975, movies stayed in theaters for months, slowly trickling through the country. Then Jaws happened. Spielberg, along with George Lucas, basically invented the summer blockbuster. They shifted the focus of the film industry toward high-concept, high-budget spectacles. It changed how we consume stories. Suddenly, movies were events. If you’ve ever waited in line for a Marvel movie, you can thank (or blame) the 70s version of Spielberg for that specific brand of cultural mania.
The Women Who Rewrote the Rules
It's impossible to discuss the important people in the 1970's without mentioning Gloria Steinem and Shirley Chisholm.
Steinem became the face of the feminist movement, co-founding Ms. magazine in 1972. She wasn't just talking about abstract rights; she was talking about reproductive freedom, workplace equality, and the domestic sphere. Meanwhile, Shirley Chisholm was breaking glass ceilings in a different building. In 1972, she became the first Black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States. She famously said she was "unbought and unbossed." She didn't win, but that wasn't really the point. She proved it could be done.
The Tech Visionaries in the Garage
We tend to think of the "tech bro" as a 2010s phenomenon. Nope. It started with guys in flannel shirts in 1976.
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Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the names everyone knows. They founded Apple in a garage in Los Altos. But why were they so important in the 70s specifically? Because they took the "computer"—which at the time was a giant, room-sized machine used by governments and banks—and decided it should be a "personal" device. The Apple II, released in 1977, was the first computer that actually looked like a consumer product you could put in your living room.
But they weren't alone. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. While Apple was focused on the hardware, Gates realized the real power was in the software. He saw a future where every desk had a computer, and every computer ran his code. This rivalry, which defined the 80s and 90s, was actually born in the mid-70s.
It’s also worth mentioning Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. You might not know their names, but you're using their work right now. In 1974, they published "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication." It was the blueprint for TCP/IP. Basically, they invented the language that the internet speaks. Without them, there is no web. No social media. No digital world.
Muhammad Ali and the Athlete as Activist
In the sports world, the 1970s belonged to Muhammad Ali. But it wasn't just about the boxing. By the time the 70s rolled around, Ali had already been stripped of his titles for refusing to fight in Vietnam. His return to the ring was a cultural event.
The "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman in 1974 wasn't just a fight; it was a global broadcast that showed the power of Black identity and internationalism. Ali proved that an athlete could be more than just a body in motion. He could be a political force, a philosopher, and a provocateur. He paved the way for every athlete today who uses their platform to speak on social issues.
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Why These People Mattered (and Still Do)
The common thread among all these important people in the 1970's is disruption. They didn't just participate in their fields; they fundamentally changed the mechanics of how those fields worked.
- Nixon and Thatcher changed the relationship between the citizen and the state.
- Jobs and Gates turned a niche hobby into a global necessity.
- Steinem and Chisholm forced the world to look at half the population differently.
- Spielberg and Bowie redefined what it meant to be entertained.
We often look back at the 70s as a time of crisis—the oil shocks, the Vietnam War's end, the skyrocketing crime rates in cities. And it was. But crisis is usually when the most interesting people emerge. They had to be interesting to survive that decade.
Looking Back to Move Forward
If you want to understand why our current world feels so fractured yet so connected, you have to look at these figures. They are the ones who built the infrastructure we’re still using. When you see a woman running for high office, or you buy a new piece of tech, or you watch a global sporting event, you’re seeing the echoes of 1975.
To really grasp the impact of this decade, start by looking into the specific primary sources from these individuals. Read Gloria Steinem’s early essays in Ms. or watch the original footage of the Nixon resignation speech. There is a raw, unpolished energy in those moments that you just don't see in the hyper-curated world of today.
Your Next Steps:
- Deepen your context: Watch the documentary 13th or The Post to see how 70s-era politics and journalism created the modern media landscape.
- Audit your tech history: Read The Innovators by Walter Isaacson to see how the 1970s "Homebrew Computer Club" literally birthed the digital age.
- Explore the arts: Listen to David Bowie’s Low or Heroes albums from his "Berlin Trilogy" (1977-1979) to hear how he pioneered electronic and ambient music before it was mainstream.
Understanding the 70s isn't just a history lesson; it's a manual for how the world we live in actually works. The people who made that decade what it was were the ones brave enough to be "unbought and unbossed" in a world that was falling apart.