Tom Schieffer | |
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27th United States Ambassador to Japan | |
In office April 11, 2005 – January 20, 2009 |
|
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Howard Baker |
Succeeded by | John Roos |
United States Ambassador to Australia | |
In office August 23, 2001 – February 18, 2005 |
|
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Edward Gnehm |
Succeeded by | Robert McCallum, Jr. |
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 32 | |
In office January 9, 1973 – January 9, 1979 |
|
Preceded by | District Created |
Succeeded by | Reby Cary |
Personal details | |
Born |
John Thomas Schieffer October 4, 1947 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Susanne Silber |
Children | Paul |
Residence | Texas |
Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin |
John Thomas "Tom" Schieffer (born October 4, 1947) is an American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Australia from 2001 to 2005 and as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2005 to 2009. He is the founder and principal of Envoy International, a consulting firm that represents companies with international interests. Schieffer is a friend and former business partner of President George W. Bush. He is the younger brother of Bob Schieffer, a former CBS News reporter and host of Face the Nation.
John Thomas (Tom) Schieffer was born in Fort Worth, the youngest child of the late John E. Schieffer and the former Gladys Payne, both originally from Austin. His father was the managing partner of a construction company. His mother stayed home to rear the children.
In addition to his brother, Bob, Schieffer has a sister, Sharon Schieffer Mayes. She is a retired teacher and school administrator who taught science for seventeen years before becoming the vice principal of Dunbar High School in Fort Worth. Sharon Mayes eventually became the high school principal at Keller High School at a time when only 2 percent of the principals in Texas' largest high schools were women. She also had a successful career as an Administrator in the Keller Independent School District.
He grew up in Fort Worth attending public schools, and graduated from Arlington Heights High School in 1966. Schieffer attended the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a B.A. degree in 1970, was a Phi Delta Theta having majored in government and minored in history, and a master's degree in international relations in 1972. His master's thesis was entitled, "An Examination of the Nuclear Weapons Debate in India." The thesis correctly predicted that India would explode a nuclear device in 1974 and pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons as the result of the security threat presented by China.