Editing Tom Schieffer (section)

==Early life and education==
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, Texas|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, who became a high school principal at [[Keller High School]] at a time when only two percent of the principals in Texas' largest high schools were women.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} She also had a successful career as an administrator in the [[Keller Independent School District]].

Schieffer grew up in Fort Worth attending public schools and graduated from [[Arlington Heights High School]] in 1966. He attended the [[University of Texas at Austin]], receiving a B.A. degree in 1970 in government and earned 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 [[Smiling Buddha|explode a nuclear device in 1974]] and pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons as the result of the security threat presented by [[China]].