“Democracy is something that people must always be doing.” With that line, three-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Rick Atkinson framed a March 3 conversation at Duke about the American Revolution, leadership and the enduring responsibilities of citizenship. Atkinson, this year’s Egan Professor for American Grand Strategy, joined Distinguished Lecturing Fellow John Hillen for a fireside chat in Reynolds Industries Theater hosted by the American Grand Strategy program.

Author Rick Atkinson is known for his gripping narratives of military conflict, from World War II to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian, Atkinson last year released his second book on the American Revolution, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, which debuted at the top of the nonfiction bestseller list, and was featured in Ken Burns' 2025 documentary series on PBS.