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Andy Coats was born on January 19, 1935 at Capitol Hill Hospital in south Oklahoma City. As a young man he attended school at the University of Oklahoma before joining the United States Navy. Following a stint in the Navy he returned to school, receiving a law degree from OU in 1963. After law school he joined the law firm of Crowe and Dunleavy. He had become a senior partner there by the time he was sworn in as mayor in 1983, although he had taken a four year hiatus to serve as Oklahoma County district attorney. During his time as district attorney he prosecuted the perpetrator of the famous Sirloin Stockade Murders.
When he was sworn in Coats drew a laugh from spectators as he recited the mayoral oath by heart. Coats said he’d wanted to be mayor because he wanted to “make things happen” in Oklahoma City. Just as his time as mayor was beginning though, the city saw one of the worst economic downturns in its history. The population had dropped for the first time in decades and unemployment was on the rise, and in 1984 Oklahoma City actually lead the nation in bankruptcies. In his 1985 state of the city speech, Coats would talk about the ill fortunes of OKlahoma City, saying that Oklahomans had just gotten used to the economic downturn. By the end of his tenure as mayor however, Coats would urge the city to “join hands and move forward” and would point out progress that the city was on the verge of making, like the proposed construction of the new Remington Park race track. After leaving the office of mayor in 1987 Coats continued to practice law. He currently lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Linda.