T. K. Jones

Thomas Kensington Jones (June 30, 1932 – May 15, 2015) was an American civil defense expert, best known for his belief that humanity could survive the outbreak of nuclear warfare. In 1982, he attracted wide attention for his comment to Robert Scheer that America could survive a nuclear war "if there are enough shovels to go around." He worked in the Reagan administration and in the arms industry for Boeing.

Early life and career Thomas Kensington Jones was born on June 30, 1932 in Tacoma, Washington. He attended the University of Washington College of Engineering, getting a job at the company that became Boeing while enrolled in college. working under Paul Nitze, eventually receiving the position of deputy director and senior technical advisor. determined that they could recover "within no more than two to four years, whereas the U.S. could not recover in less than 12 years." Jones also argued against the idea that "nuclear war would be the end of all mankind." In late 1981, he was interviewed by Robert Scheer, who interviewed a number of Reagan administration officials.

Jones was called several times to testify before committees of the United States Senate after the publicity his comments received. The Reagan administration attempted to send someone else to testify in his place. On March 17, 1982, he missed a scheduled testimony, an absence that The Boston Globe attributed to the Reagan administration telling him not to attend. Senator Paul Tsongas criticized the move sharply, stating that if the Reagan administration wished "to engage in right-wing ideology and destroy my children, I for one am not going to idly stand by." In 1986 he was sued for taking an abnormally large $132,000 package, one that the United States Department of Justice claimed left him with a conflict of interest when working for the United States.