Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American peace activist and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous for her anti-war outreaches during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

[2] With the assistance of her father, Arthur (an academic), she wrote a book titled Journey to the Soviet Union, which chronicled her visit to the country.

She later became a child actress, hosting a child-oriented special on the 1984 United States presidential election for The Disney Channel and playing a co-starring role in the television series Lime Street.

Smith died at the age of 13 in 1985, onboard Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808, which crashed short of the runway on final approach to the Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Maine.

When Yuri Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union in November 1982, the mainstream Western newspapers and magazines ran numerous front-page photographs and articles about him.

[3] According to Vasili Mitrokhin, Andropov saw the struggle for human rights as a part of a wide-ranging imperialist plot to undermine the foundation of the Soviet state.

[4] Much international tension surrounded both Soviet and American efforts to develop weapons capable of being launched from satellites in orbit.

In the United States, President Ronald Reagan came under pressure from a lobby of US scientists and arms experts, while in the Soviet Union the government issued a statement that read, "To prevent the militarization of space is one of the most urgent tasks facing mankind".

[5] At the time, large anti-nuclear protests were taking place across both Europe and North America, in the midst of which the November 20, 1983, screening of ABC's post-nuclear war dramatization The Day After became one of the most anticipated media events of the decade.

It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling Becky, the friend of Tom Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain.

Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.

In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders.

Y. Andropov[14][15]A media circus ensued, with Smith being interviewed by Ted Koppel[16] and Johnny Carson, among others, and with nightly reports by the major American networks.

During the trip she visited Moscow and Leningrad and spent time in Artek, the main Soviet pioneer camp, in the town of Gurzuf on the Crimean Peninsula.

[19] Smith shared a dormitory with nine other girls, and spent her time there swimming,[20] talking and learning Russian songs and dances.

[23][20] Smith also met with Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to orbit the Earth,[24][20] and visited an experimental fruit station in Malen'koe village.

[25] Smith's return to the US on July 22, 1983, was celebrated by the people of Maine with roses, a red carpet, and a limousine[26] and her popularity continued to grow in her native country.

Some critics at the time remained skeptical, believing Smith was unwittingly serving as an instrument of Soviet propaganda.

[26][27] In December 1983, continuing in her role as "America's Youngest Ambassador", she was invited to Japan,[28] where she met with the Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and attended the Children's International Symposium in Kobe.

[35][36] The show covered politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the 1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries, including George McGovern, John Glenn and Jesse Jackson.

Her fame resulted in Smith becoming the subject of stalker Robert John Bardo, the man who would later go on to stalk and ultimately murder My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer.

[37] In 1985, she played the co-starring role of the elder daughter to Robert Wagner's character in the television series Lime Street.

[38][39] On August 25, 1985, Smith and her father were returning home aboard Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 after filming a segment for Lime Street.

While attempting to land at Lewiston-Auburn Regional Airport in Auburn, Maine, the Beechcraft 99 commuter plane struck some trees 4,007 feet (1,221 m) short of the runway and crashed, killing all six passengers and two crew on board.

[44] The report also went on to say that it was a rainy night, that the pilots operating the aircraft were inexperienced, and an accidental, but not uncommon and not usually critical, ground radar failure occurred.

Attendees included Robert Wagner and Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev.

[55] A diamond found in Siberia,[56] a mountain in the former Soviet Union,[57] a cultivar of tulips and of dahlias, and an ocean vessel have been named in Smith's honor.

[58] In Maine, the first Monday in June of each year is officially designated as Samantha Smith Day by state law.

[36] In 2008, Smith posthumously received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for "helping to bring about better understanding between the peoples of the [USA and the USSR], and as a result, reduce the tension between the superpowers that were poised to engage in nuclear war".

[71] On the 30th anniversary of the plane crash in 2015, the Maine State Museum opened a new exhibit of materials related to Smith, including photographs of her time at the Artek camp, traditional Russian clothing she was given, and an issue of Soviet Life magazine with her on the cover.