David Dunlop Newsom was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1969 until 1974. Also, he was the United States Ambassador to the Philippines

United States Ambassador to the Philippines

The office of the United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines was established on July 4, 1946 after the Philippines gained its independence from the United States....

 from 1977 to 1978.

In October 1979, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...

 checked into the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, he used "David D. Newsom" as his temporary codename without Newsom's knowledge.

Newsom was also the author of six books and a regular columnist for The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...

, contributing over 400 columns from 1981–2005.