Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In honor of America at 250, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Rick Atkinson joins Dole Institute Director Audrey Coleman to discuss his career and work process, the legacy of World War II and the historian’s craft in the 21st century, and his new book, The Fate of the Day, the second of The Revolution Trilogy.
This program is presented in partnership with the Watkins Museum of History and the Lawrence Public Library.
About the Dole Lecture
Each spring, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics commemorates the date on which Senator Bob Dole was critically wounded while serving in Italy during World War II. To honor Senator Dole’s courageous recovery and commitment to serve the nation, we welcome a guest to the Institute who embodies the commitments that Senator Dole held throughout his career in public service.
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About Rick Atkinson
Rick Atkinson has authored eight narrative histories spanning five American wars. His most recent book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, debuted at #1 on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. It joins the earlier bestseller The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 as part of his Revolution Trilogy, which chronicles the events that unfolded during the American Revolutionary War.
He previously wrote the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the Allied campaign to liberate Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history. The second and third volumes in the trilogy, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 and The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, were both New York Times bestsellers, with The Guns at Last Light reaching #1.
Atkinson’s additional works include The Long Gray Line, a narrative saga on the West Point Military Academy class of 1966; Crusade, a history of the Persian Gulf War; and In the Company of Soldiers, which chronicles Atkinson’s time embedded with the 101st Airborne Division, led by General David H. Petraeus, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Throughout his career, Atkinson has been honored for his work as both a historian and journalist. In addition to receiving the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history, he also received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, and was part of the Washington Post team awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service. His other honors include the 1989 George Polk Award for national reporting, the 1989 John Hancock Award for excellence in business writing, the 2003 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, the 2015 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, and the 2020 George Washington Prize for the year’s best work on the American founding era, among others.
Atkinson began his journalism career in 1976 writing for the Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kansas. He joined the Kansas City Times in 1977, and moved to the Washington Post in 1983. During his two decades at the Post, he served as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, assistant managing editor, and senior editor. His reporting covered Germany and NATO, conflicts in Somalia and Bosnia, the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007.
Born in Munich, Germany, Atkinson is the son of a U.S. Army officer and grew up on military posts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Carolina University, and a Master of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Chestnut Atkinson of Lawrence, Kansas, live in Washington, D.C.
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About the Dole Institute
The Dole Institute of Politics promotes a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement, inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation.
In honor of America at 250, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Rick Atkinson joins Dole Institute Director Audrey Coleman to discuss his career and work process, the legacy of World War II and the historian’s craft in the 21st century, and his new book, The Fate of the Day, the second of The Revolution Trilogy.
This program is presented in partnership with the Watkins Museum of History and the Lawrence Public Library.
About the Dole Lecture
Each spring, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics commemorates the date on which Senator Bob Dole was critically wounded while serving in Italy during World War II. To honor Senator Dole’s courageous recovery and commitment to serve the nation, we welcome a guest to the Institute who embodies the commitments that Senator Dole held throughout his career in public service.
---
About Rick Atkinson
Rick Atkinson has authored eight narrative histories spanning five American wars. His most recent book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, debuted at #1 on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. It joins the earlier bestseller The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 as part of his Revolution Trilogy, which chronicles the events that unfolded during the American Revolutionary War.
He previously wrote the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the Allied campaign to liberate Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history. The second and third volumes in the trilogy, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 and The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, were both New York Times bestsellers, with The Guns at Last Light reaching #1.
Atkinson’s additional works include The Long Gray Line, a narrative saga on the West Point Military Academy class of 1966; Crusade, a history of the Persian Gulf War; and In the Company of Soldiers, which chronicles Atkinson’s time embedded with the 101st Airborne Division, led by General David H. Petraeus, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Throughout his career, Atkinson has been honored for his work as both a historian and journalist. In addition to receiving the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history, he also received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, and was part of the Washington Post team awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service. His other honors include the 1989 George Polk Award for national reporting, the 1989 John Hancock Award for excellence in business writing, the 2003 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, the 2015 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, and the 2020 George Washington Prize for the year’s best work on the American founding era, among others.
Atkinson began his journalism career in 1976 writing for the Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kansas. He joined the Kansas City Times in 1977, and moved to the Washington Post in 1983. During his two decades at the Post, he served as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, assistant managing editor, and senior editor. His reporting covered Germany and NATO, conflicts in Somalia and Bosnia, the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007.
Born in Munich, Germany, Atkinson is the son of a U.S. Army officer and grew up on military posts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Carolina University, and a Master of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Chestnut Atkinson of Lawrence, Kansas, live in Washington, D.C.
---
For more information, visit our website: doleinstitute.org
Find us on our other platforms:
Facebook | facebook.com/DoleInstitute
X | https://x.com/DoleInstitute
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/doleinstitu...
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...
---
About the Dole Institute
The Dole Institute of Politics promotes a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement, inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation.
