He was a candidate in the U.S. 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries, running on the single-issue platform of an "orderly dissolution of the federal government.

[5] His father, Charles Kokesh, is a businessman, trophy hunter, and at one time the owner of Santa Fe Horse Park.

[8] Kokesh says he was inspired by his grandfather to enlist in the United States Marine Corps reserves at the age of seventeen, while still attending high school.

For his tour in Iraq from February to September 2004, he received a Navy Commendation Medal,[10] Combat Action Ribbon, and was promoted to the rank of a sergeant.

On March 19, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and twelve other IVAW members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington, D.C.[15] Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and ABC, and his photograph appeared in various newspapers, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales's testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S.

[16] In April 2007, Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested after protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building.

[12][14] After Kokesh was contacted via e-mail with a warning for violating uniform regulations, he responded with a refusal to comply and used an expletive in his reply.

[12][17] He contends that the warning was an attempt to silence and punish members of the military for exercising their constitutional rights;[18] while the Marine Corps said it was a matter of ordinary discipline and Kokesh was not singled out.

[19] In June 2007, Kokesh, along with IVAW members Liam Madden and Nate Lewis, was arrested for crossing onto Fort Benning during an anti-war protest.

He refused officers orders and was subsequently violently body-slammed onto the marble floor, put in a choke hold, then cuffed.

The aggressive nature of the arrests raised concerns about the actions of some of the officers and prompted an internal investigation by the Park Police.

[28] On June 26, 2012, Kokesh organized a protest against the decision of Middleborough, Massachusetts, to ban cursing in public with punishment of a $20 fine.

He described the event as a nonviolent demonstration to be coordinated with DC law enforcement and that marchers should respond "with Satyagraha"[32] and peacefully turn back if met with force, and should be prepared to "submit to arrest without resisting.

"[33] On July 4, 2013, Kokesh posted a YouTube video of himself allegedly loading a shotgun in Freedom Plaza in the District of Columbia in open defiance of DC law.

With helicopters providing air support, the police officers knocked then kicked in the door and lobbed a flash grenade in the foyer, filling the house with smoke.

[38] On the same day, Kokesh announced his plans to run for President of the United States in 2020 on a platform of an orderly dissolution of the U.S. Federal Government.

[39] On July 26, Kokesh posted bail in Virginia and was immediately rearrested by U.S. Park Police for breaking a D.C. law forbidding bearing arms which carries a penalty of up to five years in jail, in connection with his Freedom Plaza video.

Magistrate Judge Lori Parker ordered Kokesh to remain in the D.C. jail over the weekend because, she said, he had violated the rules of his release in another case.

On July 29 D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick Sullivan, calling Kokesh "a very dangerous man," ordered him to remain in D.C. jail until trial.

[50] On July 23, 2013, Kokesh announced his candidacy for U.S. president in 2020 from a jailhouse interview with Fox 5, after he was arrested for the Open Carry incident earlier that month.

He was pulled over by Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers twice that day and arrested the second time on marijuana and controlled substance charges.

[58] Kokesh stated that if elected, he would immediately sign his one-and-only executive order to declare the federal government bankrupt and of no authority.

On April 7, 2014, AVTM 4.0 was launched from Los Angeles, California, and could be viewed live daily from noon to 2 PM, Pacific Time Zone.

The move was criticized by Accuracy in Media's columnist Cliff Kincaid who referenced his own column entry from 2008 discussing RT's coverage of the Russia–Georgian War in which he condemned RT for "preferring to use foreigners, especially Americans, to make Russian propaganda points"[62][63] before stating that "the American Marine Veteran, Adam Kokesh, seems to fit the bill, having emerged as an anti-war activist who ran as a Republican for Congress and supported Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) for president".

The Man was canceled in August by the network to avoid potential legal problems stemming from a Federal Election Commission complaint filed against RT by the group America's Survival, Inc. over the matter of Kokesh endorsing Ron Paul for President (thereby allegedly running afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act).

On January 19, 2013, Kokesh appeared as a future version of himself at an anti-war-debt rally scene in the 2014 sci-fi thriller, Alongside Night.

Kokesh wrote the speech he delivered, a tribute to the character of Dr. Martin Vreeland (played by Kevin Sorbo), in the background during an action sequence.