THE UNTOLD STORY OF REAGAN, THATCHER, THE INVASION OF GRENADA AND THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE COLD WAR How Reagan reignited the foreign policy principles that made America a “shining city upon a hill.” On October 25th,1983 President Ronald Reagan launched one of the most successful invasions in modern American history. In four days, Operation Urgent Fury successfully liberated the Island of Grenada from communist forces and reinstated the democratically elected government. It was the first major American operation since Vietnam and the first victorious major military operation since World War II. And this monumental task almost came at the cost of the most important Cold War alliance: that between President Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The urgency of action meant that the Prime Minister and close American ally was left out of the loop, publicly embarrassing for her and straining their relationship. TURNING POINT: How the U.S. LIberation of Grenada Led to the Fall of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold War reveals how America was able to invade a country, liberate it from a corrupt government that threatened stability in the Western hemisphere, and leave the potential for a prosperous future in the hands of its own people; it explores the greater picture of how Reagan avoided succumbing to interventionist nation-building and becoming an occupying force. President Reagan’s strategic success helped bring an end to the Cold War and is a much needed lesson for current American foreign policy.