In 1984, Spradlin played a villainous Southern sheriff in "Tank". In 1985, Spradlin turned in a memorable performance as President Lyndon B. Johnson in the mini-series "Robert Kennedy and His Times", based on the book of the same name by presidential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. In 1986, he again portrayed an American president when he played Andrew Jackson in the television movie "Houston: The Legend of Texas". Also in 1986, he starred in the miniseries "Dream West". In 1988, he played Admiral Raymond A. Spruance in the miniseries "War and Remembrance". In 1989, Spradlin played a small role in the film "The War of the Roses" as a divorce lawyer, with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.