John Thomas Schieffer

John Thomas Schieffer, of Texas, was nominated January 21, 2005, by President George W. Bush to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan. At the time of his nomination, Schieffer was serving as U.S. Ambassador to Australia, a position he had held since July 2001. Shieffer replaced Howard H. Baker, Jr. as Ambassador to Japan.

Texas Rangers' Investor "In 1989, he was an investor in the partnership led by George W. Bush and Edward W. (Rusty) Rose that bought the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. He was designated as Partner-In-Charge of Ballpark Development in 1990. In January 1991, he was named President of the club reporting directly to general partners Bush and Rose. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the club as well as the building of the Ballpark in Arlington. When Bush was elected Governor of Texas in 1994, Ambassador Schieffer assumed Bush's duties as general partner. The partnership sold the team in June 1998 to Dallas financier Thomas O. Hicks. He stayed on as President until April 1999, when he resigned to become consultant on the development of the real estate around The Ballpark. After visiting projects around the United States and Europe, Ambassador Schieffer completed his consulting work for Hicks in May 2000." 


 * Time Magazine Photograph of Schieffer and Bush on Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, January 12, 2004, issue; posted January 4, 2004.

Profiles
Schieffer was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Australia on September 29, 2001. He was nominated by President Bush on July 18, 2001 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 27, 2001. 

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Australia, he was President of J. Thomas Schieffer Management Company and Pablo Operating Company. He earned his bachelor's degree and master's degree from The University of Texas. 

In business Schieffer has served on the advisory board of the JP Morgan Chase Bank in Fort Worth, and Drew Industries of White Plains, New York, a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration cronyism and incompetence