The Hoover Institution invites you to Character and Country: The Responsibilities of American Leadership, a special live taping of Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, part of The Ideas That Made U.S.: Dialogues on Freedom, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, from 4:30-7:00 PM PT.
Margaret Hoover will moderate a conversation with General Jim Mattis, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Ryan Holiday, bestselling author and modern interpreter of Stoic philosophy, on the character that sustains a republic. Drawing on experience in military command, classical philosophy, and the enduring example of America’s founding generation, including their shared admiration for George Washington, the discussion will explore the virtues that have defined American leadership at its best: discipline, moral courage, humility in the exercise of power, and a profound sense of duty.
This live episode of Firing Line will consider how those principles continue to define the American idea, and what they require of leaders and citizens alike in the decades ahead.
FEATURING
Margaret Hoover is the host of PBS’s Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, a public affairs program dedicated to rigorous, civil discourse. She has served in the White House under President George W. Bush, at the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill, and on two presidential campaigns. A bestselling author, she is president of the American Unity Fund and serves on several nonprofit boards, including Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
General Jim Mattis, US Marine Corps (Ret.), is the Davies Family Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution and served as the nation’s 26th Secretary of Defense after his 2017 confirmation. Over a forty-three-year Marine Corps career, he commanded at every level, leading forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and later overseeing U.S. Central Command. He also served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Call Sign Chaos.
Ryan Holiday is bestselling author and modern interpreter of Stoic philosophy. His books—including The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Stillness Is the Key, and his #1 New York Times series on the Stoic Virtues—have sold more than 10 million copies in over forty languages. He lives outside Austin, Texas, with his wife, two sons, and a small herd of farm animals, and owns The Painted Porch bookstore in Bastrop.
