A career Foreign Service Officer, his postings included Syria 1946-1950,[1] Mombasa, Kenya 1950-1952, Guatemala 1954-1969, France 1954-1955, and Chile 1969-1973.

Poor relations with Mobutu Sese Seko led to him being declared persona non grata on June 18, 1975.

In 1949, while serving at the US embassy in Syria, he became aware of the US plan to support a coup overthrowing the democratically elected government.

His prescient comment was, “I want to go on record as saying that this is the stupidest, most irresponsible action a diplomatic mission like ours could get itself involved in, and that we’ve started a series of these things that will never end.” However, the new government, led by Husni al-Za'im, did the US's bidding and allowed the trans-Syrian oil pipeline, instigated talks with Israel and imprisoned left-wingers and trade unionists.

[4] He also investigated the Santa Rita massacre, confirming the Salvadoran military's version of events and stating that "they have not tried to hide anything.