Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943 in Jackson, Michigan) is an American diplomat and politician. He is a member of the Republican party.
Coats was graduated from Jackson High School in 1961. He granted from Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.) with bachelor of arts degree in 1965. He served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968. He earned a law degree in 1971 from Indiana University (Indianapolis). From 1976 to 1980, Coats worked for then U.S. Rep. J. Danforth Quayle III in Quayle's Indiana office. From 1981 to 1988, Coats served in the United States House of Representatives as a representative from Indiana, having been elected to the seat Quayle vacated when he ran for the United States Senate. When Quayle resigned his seat in 1988 to run for the office of Vice President of the United States, Coats was appointed to Quayle's seat in the Senate. Coats served in the Senate from 1988 to 1999.
Since August 15,2001 Coats has been the U.S. ambassador to Germany.
