By BRIAN A. HOWEY



INDIANAPOLIS – Up until the May 2016 presidential primary, Gov. Mike Pence and U.S. Sen. Dan Coats had been backing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination. Donald Trump not only won that primary with 53% of the vote, as he exited the state, he alleged that Cruz’s father had been involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.



By early summer, Pence and Coats had come around to Trump, with Pence looking for a political lifeline on Trump’s ticket.



The two were not only close personally, but politically. In April 2010, Pence endorsed Coats’s GOP primary bid to return to the Senate, saying, “Dan Coats’ integrity and conservative record make him the best candidate for the job. Dan is a proven conservative leader who is trusted by Hoosiers. I know Dan Coats well and I have long admired his personal faith, his devotion to family and his service to the people of Indiana. I know we will work together to support our troops, create jobs, and restore moral values.”



According to Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage,” they even made career plans together.



Gathering for dinner in 2015 at the governor’s retreat, Brown County SP’s Aynes House, the two had decided in tandem not to run for president in 2016 (Pence), while Coats opted not to seek reelection; he would retire from politics and return to practice law.



“We talked about the future and where God might led each of us,” Coats explained to Woodward. “We prayed that God would be clear and I think I raised the question that we should pray for clarity, not for what we want, but clarity for what God would want.” Coats added that he didn’t believe any of them had a special line to God. “It is just simply built into our faith that ultimately we are his children and he has a plan for us. Our job is to be obedient to ask for clarity, and then fulfill it.”



Trump’s stunning 2016 upset of Hillary Clinton not only changed the course of history, it altered the life stories of Pence and Coats. Woodward notes that “Pence’s unexpected selection as Trump’s running mate had taken them all by surprise. In post-election phone call, Pence proposed that Coats speak to Trump, obstensibly to describe how the Senate works.