Victoria Coates
| Victoria Coates | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | Donald Trump presidential administration | ||
| Role: | Middle East advisor | ||
| Location: | Washington, D.C. | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Education: | •Trinity College-Hartford (B.A. art history, 1990) •Williams College (M.A. art history, 1992) •University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. art history, 1998) | ||
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Victoria Coates is a Republican political consultant. As of August 2017, she was part of President Donald Trump's (R) diplomatic envoy to the Middle East, a team led by Jason Greenblatt.[1] From January to June 2017, she was the senior director for strategic assessments on the National Security Council in the Trump administration.[2]
Coates was the national security advisor for Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign and a national policy advisor for Cruz in the U.S. Senate. She also served as the foreign affairs advisor for Rick Perry's (R) 2012 presidential campaign, a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a consulting curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and an aide to Donald Rumsfeld.
Career
Early career
Coates graduated from Trinity College in 1990 and completed her M.A. in art history at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. According to National Review, Coates began blogging anonymously for RedState in the mid-2000s; her writing on foreign policy, national security, and art history was noticed by staffers in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office and was eventually noticed by Rumsfeld as well.[3]
From 2007 to 2011, Coates was a senior research associate at the Rumsfeld Foundation (also associated with DHR Holdings, LLC in Washington, D.C.) as well as acting as editor and content analyst for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's 2011 memoir, Known and Unknown.[4][5]
Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012
In late 2011, Coates joined then-Governor Rick Perry's (R-Texas) 2012 presidential campaign as the foreign affairs advisor.[6][7] Other Cruz staffers from 2016 who worked on Perry's campaign were campaign manager Jeff Roe, press secretary Catherine Frazier and financial director Lauren Lofstrom.[8]
After leaving Perry's campaign in 2012, Coates joined the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as an adjunct fellow. She was an occasional contributor to the research and article content for the foundation's website.[9][10]
Ted Cruz U.S. Senate staff
In March 2013, Coates joined the staff of Sen. Ted Cruz (R) as a policy advisor for national security.[11]
At that time, Coates was also a senior fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives.[5]
Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
Coates was named national security advisor for Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign shortly after Cruz announced his candidacy on March 23, 2015.[12] During the campaign, she continued to advise Cruz on foreign policy concerning terrorism and Iran. According to the Washington Free Beacon, she "played a critical role in crafting his national security agenda—including efforts to stop the Iran nuclear deal and designate the Muslim Brotherhood organization as a terrorist entity."[2]
Cruz suspended his presidential campaign on May 3, 2016, after losing the Indiana Republican primary to Donald Trump.[13]
Donald Trump presidential administration
National Security Council
On January 30, 2017, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Coates was moving from Cruz's Senate staff to the National Security Council in the Trump administration. She was hired as the senior director for strategic assessments, a role that dealt primarily with intelligence concerning terrorism.[2]
Middle East diplomatic team
On August 2, 2017, the Israeli publication Haaretz reported that Coates had been appointed to a team of diplomats focused on Middle East peace. The diplomatic team was led by former Trump Organization legal officer Jason Greenblatt, who became a special representative for international relations during the Trump administration.[1]
Publications
From 2010 to 2013, Coates was a consulting curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where she co-curated the 2013 exhibit The Last Days of Pompeii.[14] She also co-authored the accompanying text to the exhibit, The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection.[15]
She is co-author of Antiquity Recovered: The Legacy of Pompeii and Herculaneum and author of David's Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art.[16][17]
See also
External links
- Victoria Coates on LinkedIn
- Commonwealth Foundation biography for Victoria Coates
- Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Haaretz, "Ex-Cruz Aide Joins Trump Envoy's Team, Signaling Interest in Beefing Up Mideast Peace Efforts," August 2, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Washington Free Beacon, "Top Cruz Aide Tapped for Senior Role on Trump National Security Team," January 30, 2017
- ↑ National Review, "Meet Art Historian Victoria Coates — Ted Cruz’s Key National-Security Adviser," February 15, 2016
- ↑ Abc News, "Donald Rumsfeld Unveils Career Archives Tuesday," February 7, 2011
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Commonwealth Foundation, "Staff," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ University of California Santa Barbara, "The American Presidency Project," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ CBS News, "Rick Perry widens his circle of advisers despite lagging poll numbers," November 2, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "Connecting the Dots Behind the 2016 Candidates," May 17, 2015
- ↑ Foundation for Defense of Democracies, "Putin Goes to Israel," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Foundation for Defense of Democracies, "Victim of Assad," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ National Journal, "Victoria Coates," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "The power players behind Ted Cruz's campaign," April 20, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Ted Cruz drops out of presidential race," May 3, 2016
- ↑ Cleveland Museum of Art, "Curator Conversation: The Last Days of Pompeii," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Bryn Mawr Classical Review, "The Last Days of Pompeii. Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Bryn Mawr Classical Review, "Antiquity Recovered. The Legacy of Pompeii and Herculaneum," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Encounter Books, "David's Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art," accessed May 20, 2015
