Editing Rick Atkinson (section)

==Life and career==
Atkinson was born in [[Munich]] to Margaret (née Howe) and Larry Atkinson, who was a [[U.S. Army]] officer. Turning down an appointment to [[West Point]],<ref>{{cite news
|title=Anyone for War?|first=Tom |last=Buckley|newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 22, 1989 |access-date=November 30, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/22/books/anyone-for-war.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}</ref> he instead attended [[East Carolina University]] on a full scholarship, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1974. He received a master of arts degree in English language and literature from the [[University of Chicago]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uchicago.edu/|title=Pulitzer Prizes|website=www.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

While visiting his parents for Christmas at [[Fort Riley]], Kansas, in 1975, Atkinson found a job as a newspaper reporter for ''[[The Morning Sun (Pittsburg)|The Morning Sun]]'' in [[Pittsburg, Kansas]], covering crime, local government, and other topics in southeast Kansas, an area known as "the Little [[Balkans]]" for its ethnic diversity and fractious politics. In April 1977, he joined the staff of ''[[The Kansas City Times]]'', working nights in suburban [[Johnson County, Kansas]] before moving to the city desk and eventually serving as a national reporter; in 1981, he joined the newspaper's bureau in Washington, D.C. He won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for national reporting in 1982<ref name="Contemporary2">{{cite book |title=Contemporary Authors Online |title-link=Contemporary Authors Online |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |year=2010 |location=[[Detroit]] |chapter=Rick Atkinson |access-date=November 30, 2013 |chapter-url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000003606&source=Bookmark&u=fairfax_main&jsid=151cb828973e737575086bea7f402e95 |via=[[Fairfax County Public Library]]}} Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000003606. Biography in Context. {{subscription required}}</ref> for a "body of work" that included a series about the [[West Point]] class of 1966, which lost more men in [[Vietnam]] than any other [[Military Academy]] class. He also contributed to the newspaper's coverage of the [[Hyatt Regency walkway collapse|Hyatt Regency]] walkway collapse in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], for which the paper's staff in 1982 was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for local spot news reporting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-17 |title=Staff of ''Kansas City Star and Kansas City Times'' |website=www.pulitzer.org}}</ref>

In November 1983, Atkinson was hired as a reporter on the national staff of ''[[The Washington Post]]''. He wrote about defense issues, the [[1984 U.S. Presidential election|1984 presidential election]]. He covered Rep. [[Geraldine Ferraro]], the first woman vice-presidential candidate for a major party, and national topics. In 1985, he became deputy national editor, overseeing coverage of defense, diplomacy, and intelligence. In 1988, he returned to reporting as a member of the ''Post'' investigative staff, writing about public housing in the District of Columbia and the secret history of Project Senior C.J., which became the [[B-2 stealth bomber]]. In 1991, he was the newspaper's lead writer during the [[Persian Gulf War]]. Two years later he joined the foreign staff as bureau chief in [[Berlin]], covering Germany and [[NATO]] and spending time in Somalia and Bosnia. He returned from Europe in 1996 to become assistant managing editor for investigations; in that role, he headed a seven-member team that for more than a year scrutinized shootings by the District of Columbia police department, resulting in "Deadly Force," a series for which the ''Post'' was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/washington-post-0 |title=The Washington Post |website=www.pulitzer.org}}</ref>

Atkinson left the newspaper world in 1999 to write about [[World War II]], an interest that began with his birth in Germany and was rekindled during his three-year tour in Berlin. He twice rejoined the ''Post'', first in 2003 when for two months he accompanied General [[David Petraeus]] and the [[101st Airborne Division]] during the invasion of [[Iraq]], and again in 2007 when he made trips to Iraq and Afghanistan while writing "Left of Boom", an investigative series about roadside bombs in modern warfare, which won the [[Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense]]. He held the [[Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership]] at the [[United States Army War College]] and [[Dickinson College]] in 2004–2005,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dickinson.edu/news/article/976/cnn_and_daily_beast_contributor_appointed_bradley_chair|title=CNN and Daily Beast Contributor Appointed Bradley Chair|first=Christine|last=Dugan|website=www.dickinson.edu}}</ref> and remains an adjunct faculty member at the war college.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/pritzker-literature-award/rick-atkinson-2010-pritzker-literature-award-winner|title=Rick Atkinson &#124; Pritzker Military Museum & Library &#124; Chicago|website=www.pritzkermilitary.org}}</ref>

Atkinson is a presidential counselor at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/media/press-releases/national-world-war-ii-museum-names-presidential-counselors|title=The National World War II Museum names Presidential Counselors|website=The National WWII Museum &#124; New Orleans}}</ref> a member of the Society of American Historians,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah.columbia.edu/members-directory|title=Membership List &#124; Society of American Historians|website=sah.columbia.edu}}</ref> and an inductee in the Academy of Achievement, for which he also serves as a board member.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/director-staff/|title=Directors & Our Team|website=Academy of Achievement}}</ref> He formerly served on the governing commission of the National Portrait Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://npg.si.edu/about-us|title=About Us|date=August 21, 2015|website=npg.si.edu}}</ref> Atkinson is married and has two children.