John Marshall Coleman (born June 8, 1942) is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly during the 1970s.

Born in Staunton, Virginia to William Warren Coleman, a factory worker who had become a minister and his wife, Marguerite Louise Brooks.

On January 15, 1952, he was shocked to find his father, who had become badly injured in an automobile accident the previous year, had committed suicide in their basement.

[6] The 24th senatorial district between 1972 and 1980 included Augusta, Highland and Rockbridge counties, and the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro, Buena Vista and Lexington.

Coleman resigned his Virginia Senate seat to run for Attorney General, and Democrat Nolan of Harrisonburg regained it in the resulting special election.

Schar persuaded Coleman to change firms, and he was a partner at the Tysons, Virginia office of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn from 1985 until 1992.

However, he came in second in a five-way primary, losing to state Senator John Chichester, who later was defeated in the general election by Democrat L. Douglas Wilder.

Coleman received only 11% of the votes cast, despite Warner's support and widespread dislike among voters for North (who had been convicted on three felony counts, later overturned, for his role in the Iran-Contra Affair) and Robb (who faced allegations of womanizing).

Coleman returned to private practice with Katten Muchin & Zavis, and managed the firm's Washington DC office from 1994 until 1996, when (already a major stockholder), he became chairman of the Board of Directors of The Fortress Group, Inc., where he remained as of 1999.