In 1926 he was named chief accountant for state receipts and expenditures and called for a tax hike on foreigners (i.e. Chinese merchants) to reduce their control of the economy.

When violent uprisings in western Mongolia forced the curtailment of such policies in 1932, Sambuu deftly avoided the political blowback for the debacle that felled many of the party's most extreme leftists including Ölziin Badrakh, Zolbingiin Shijee and Prime Minister Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav.

Although he had no prior diplomatic experience (he had never traveled abroad), Sambuu was appointed Ambassador of the Mongolian People's Republic to Moscow in 1937, where he managed Mongolia's most important bilateral relationship.

Throughout World War II Sambuu played a key role in funneling Mongolian monetary and material assistance to the Soviet Red Army fighting German troops.

Returning to Mongolia with a heightened reputation from his wartime work with the Soviets and Advice to Herdsmen, Sambuu was appointed Deputy Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1946.

In addition to Advice to Herders, Sambuu also wrote On the Question of Religion and Lamas (Шашин ба ламн нарын асуудалд) in 1961, and his autobiography From Life's Path (Амьдралын замналаас), published in two parts in 1965 and 1970.