We report the discovery of KELT-2Ab, a hot Jupiter transiting the bright (V=8.77) primary star of the HD 42176 binary system. The host is a slightly evolved late F-star likely in the very short-lived blue-hook stage of evolution, with $teff=6148pm48{rm K}$, $log{g}=4.030_{-0.026}^{+0.015}$ and $feh=0.034pm0.78$. The inferred stellar mass is $M_*=1.314_{-0.060}^{+0.063}$msun and the star has a relatively large radius of $R_*=1.836_{-0.046}^{+0.066}$rsun. The planet is a typical hot Jupiter with period $4.11379pm0.00001$ days and a mass of $M_P=1.524pm0.088$mj and radius of $R_P=1.290_{-0.050}^{+0.064}$rj. This is mildly inflated as compared to models of irradiated giant planets at the $sim$4 Gyr age of the system. KELT-2A is the third brightest star with a transiting planet identified by ground-based transit surveys, and the ninth brightest star overall with a transiting planet. KELT-2Abs mass and radius are unique among the subset of planets with $V<9$ host stars, and therefore increases the diversity of bright benchmark systems. We also measure the relative motion of KELT-2A and -2B over a baseline of 38 years, robustly demonstrating for the first time that the stars are bound. This allows us to infer that KELT-2B is an early K-dwarf. We hypothesize that through the eccentric Kozai mechanism KELT-2B may have emplaced KELT-2Ab in its current orbit. This scenario is potentially testable with Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements, which should have an amplitude of $sim$44 m s$^{-1}$.
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