[1] In 1949, Smith joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until 1953, including combat in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
In 1957, he joined the U.S. State Department, serving in posts in Brazil, the Soviet Union, Argentina, and Cuba.
Smith retired after 25 years in the Foreign Service due to personal disagreement with the policies of Reagan in Latin America.
In particular, he disagreed with the Reagan policies in Central America at the time (Iran Contra, military advisers in El Salvador and Nicaragua) and Cuba.
After the 1992 Helms-Burton legislation, signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, Smith took it upon himself to launch targeted diplomatic missions headlining various politicians and groups of interest to Cuba to facilitate dialogue.