Peace Ambassador in the Cold War

Samantha Smith

The story of Samantha Reed Smith is both amazing and tragic. She became a symbol of hope and friendship during the Cold War era and she managed to obtain an answer about the nuclear threat, straight from her source inside the Kremlin.

At the time, few realised that what she learned from her source were the real Soviet strategic intentions, recently backed by declassified interviews with Soviet policy makers and high ranked Soviet military. An achievement even the CIA could not match. The amazing thing about her is that she was only 10 years old and her source was none other than Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.

Letter to the Soviet Leader

The early 1980's brought a new rise in tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. After years of so-called détente, a new build-up of strategic nuclear weapons started in both East and West. In November 1982, ten year old American Samantha Smith took the bold decision to write a letter to the newly appointed Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. Driven by the fear for a global war, she wanted to ask him whether he had peaceful intentions or that he wanted war, as some media wrote. Here's her actual letter to the Soviet Leader:

"Dear Mr. Andropov,

My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight.

Sincerely,

Samantha Smith "

The Soviet newspaper Pravda published her letter but she did not receive any reply. Therefore, she wrote to Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin, asking him whether Andropov would answer or not, and he did!

Samantha with Andropov's letter

On April 26, 1983, she received a response from President Yuri Andropov himself, and he explained her that the people of the Soviet Union wanted to live in peace and would never ever be the first to use nuclear weapons or start a new World War.

He also invited her to visit the USSR, meet children of her own age and visit an international children's camp. She attracted massive media attention in the USSR and the US, and she became known as America's youngest ambassador.

Touring in Russia

Samantha at the Artek Pioneer camp

On July 7, 1983, Samantha flew to Moscow with her parents. During the two week trip, she visited Moscow, Leningrad and the Artek Young Pioneer camp on the Black Sea. She was struck by the friendliness of the people and told on a Moscow press conference that the Russians were "just like us".

Five months later, she visited Japan as child goodwill ambassador. Others followed in her footsteps, including eleven year old Katya Lycheva from the Soviet Union, who visited the United States. Samantha also became a media celebrity, hosted a special on Disney Channel, wrote the book "Journey to the Soviet Union", interviewed politicians and co-starred with Robert Wagner in the television series "Lime Street".

Her innocently naive, yet noble initiative resulted in a written statement from Soviet leader Andropov that the Soviet Union would never start a nuclear war. It might sound naive but, as the records have shown, he told the truth. Her noble intentions to bring people together should be an example to all of us, never to be forgotten.

Two years later, on August 25, 1985, tragedy struck when Samantha Smith and her father died in a plane crash. Their small Beechcraft 99 crashed just before landing, killing all six passengers and two crew on board.

Samantha's Legacy as Symbol of Hope

Commemorative stamp

She was mourned by millions of people at home and in the Soviet Union. Vladimir Kulagin from the Soviet Embassy, who attended the funeral, read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev, and President Reagan sent his condolences in writing to her mother.

The Soviet Union issued a commemorative stamp, built a monument in Moscow and even named an asteroid to her. Manchester, her hometown in Main, honored her with a statue and the first Monday in June of each year is officially named "Samantha Smith Day" in Maine. In 1985, Samantha's mother also founded the Samantha Smith Foundation, which fostered student exchanges between the US and USSR.

"When Samantha Smith was killed in a plane crash, millions of people all over the world grieved as if for their own child. For, in a way, she was a child of the world - a symbol of childhood itself, a guardian of our dreams and hopes for children everywhere" (from Citizen Diplomats: Pathfinders in Soviet American Relations)

The Samantha Smith website brings the story of this little girl that, in her own way, brought East and West a bit closer and sparked a glimmer of hope, something many diplomats and politicians could not achieve back then. On her website you find Andropov's letter, read about the foundation, view many images (use "next page" at the bottom of each page) and visit her Youtube channel with videos about her visit to the USSR and interviews. The U.S. Embassy in Russia also had a tribute page on Samantha.

Update: New podcast about Samantha Smith, including interview with childhood friends, her Russian buddy during het tour in the Soviet Union and actor Robert Wagner with whom she played in the TV series Lime Street.

Below the 60 Minutes special by WGAN/CBS, aired on July 27, 1983. From the SamanthaSmithInfo Youtube channel.

To Russia With Love