Born in Jackson, Michigan, Coats graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis.

In 2001, Coats was reportedly one of George W. Bush's top choices to be secretary of defense, a job eventually given to Donald Rumsfeld who had previously held the post under President Gerald Ford.

[11] As Ambassador he also played a critical role in establishing robust relations with then opposition leader Angela Merkel, who approved the Iraq war, and in the construction of a new United States Embassy in the heart of Berlin next to the Brandenburg Gate.

[13] In 2005, Coats drew attention when he was chosen by President George W. Bush to shepherd Harriet Miers's failed nomination to the Supreme Court through the Senate.

Echoing Senator Roman Hruska's famous 1970 speech in defense of Harrold Carswell, Coats said to CNN regarding the nomination: "If [being a] great intellectual powerhouse is a qualification to be a member of the court and represent the American people and the wishes of the American people and to interpret the Constitution, then I think we have a court so skewed on the intellectual side that we may not be getting representation of America as a whole.

"[14] In 2007, Coats served as co-chairman of a team of lobbyists for Cooper Industries, a Texas corporation that moved its principal place of business to Bermuda, where it would not be liable for U.S. taxes.

In that role, he worked to block Senate legislation that would have closed a tax loophole, worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Cooper Industries.

[17] On February 10, 2010, Coats confirmed that he would return to Indiana to run for the seat held by incumbent Evan Bayh in the 2010 United States Senate election.

On January 5, 2017, Coats was announced as then-President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the Cabinet-level position of Director of National Intelligence, to succeed the outgoing James R.

[1] His confirmation hearing was held on February 28, 2017, by the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, which approved his nomination on March 9, 2017, with a 13–2 vote.

[27] On September 6, 2018, Director Coats denied that he had authored the anonymous op-ed piece from a senior Trump Administration official that criticized the President which had been published by The New York Times the day prior.

The day before, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell speculated that Coats was the author of the guest essay, which was later revealed to have been written by then-United States Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor.

The reports states that the "international system is coming under increasing strain amid continuing cyber and WMD proliferation threats, competition in space, and regional conflicts.

Among the disturbing trends are hostile states and actors' intensifying online efforts to influence and interfere with elections here and abroad and their use of chemical weapons.

In the report, Coats also highlighted the potential negative impacts to US national security as a result of climate change, with this statement: "The United States will probably have to manage the impact of global human security challenges, such as threats to public health, historic levels of human displacement, assaults on religious freedom, and the negative effects of environmental degradation and climate change.

"[29]: 4 Reporting to Congress in January 2019, the subject advised that Russia acting in concert with their allies will use novel strategies that build on their previous experience in election meddling.

On July 28, 2019, following multiple anonymous reports that he was about to be let go, Trump announced on Twitter that Coats would depart on August 15 and that he would nominate U.S. Representative John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to replace him as Director of National Intelligence.

[37] The purpose of the Feinstein Amendment was to "restrict the manufacture, transfer, and possession of certain semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices".

[38] In April 2013, Coats was one of forty-six senators to vote against passage of a bill which would have expanded background checks for gun buyers.

In 1993, Coats emerged as an opponent of President Clinton's effort to allow LGBT individuals to serve openly in the armed forces.

The bill allowed the President to "rewrit[e] legislation by vetoing single items of spending or specific tax breaks approved by Congress.

Coats made headlines in August 1998, when he publicly questioned the timing of President Bill Clinton's cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan, suggesting they might be linked to the Lewinsky scandal: "While there is clearly much more we need to learn about this attack and why it was ordered today, given the president's personal difficulties this week, it is legitimate to question the timing of this action.