Senator Dan Coats: Distinguished Christian Statesman for 1998

Looking for someone who has earned the respect of even his political opponents? Look no further than retired Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, honored as a Distinguished Christian Statesman for 1998 on the eve of his retirement from Congress.

Ask Dan Coats about his road to statesmanship, and he might take you back to just after he graduated from Wheaton College and landed a job going door-to-door in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. There, he saw firsthand how well-intentioned government programs can destroy families and communities.

Or perhaps he would mention a speech by Chuck Colson that motivated him to fully dedicate his career to Christ and apply his faith to the high calling of public service.

Senator Coats’ views of public service were also formed while serving in the U.S. Army and later working his way through law school at the University of Indiana. Then in 1980, Indiana’s 4th district elected him to the U.S. Congress. In 1988, then-Rep. Coats was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill Vice President-elect Dan Quayle’s seat. Two years later, he was elected to finish the term, and subsequently re-elected in 1992.

In the Senate, Sen. Coats served on the influential Armed Services and Intelligence committees. He also was the chief sponsor of a new vision for welfare reform called the Project for American Renewal which had the goal of shifting power from Washington back to community and religious organizations best equipped to restore our society.

In 1998, after nearly two decades on Capitol Hill, Sen. Coats retired from Congress, but not from public service. He is president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and has continued to promote local, faith-based solutions to society’s social dilemmas. As always, Dan Coats keeps all his efforts in proper perspective. “We should never lose sight of a higher calling that transcends politics and all human endeavors,” he recently said. “That higher calling is a commitment to serve God and to share the good news of the Gospel.” Just such an understanding will ensure Sen. Coats a lasting legacy of statesmanship.

Sen. Coats and his wife, Marcia, have three children.