 Coats worked as Special Counsel member in the firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand in 2000 and 2001.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.From August 15, 2001, to February 28, 2005, Coats was United States Ambassador to Germany.