Brandon Friedman is an American writer, entrepreneur and former Obama administration official. He was CEO of the McPherson Square Group[1][2] before co-founding Rakkasan Tea Company in 2017.[3] Previously, he served as the deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.[4]
Friedman began his career as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. In March 2002, he led a rifle platoon into Afghanistan's Shah-e-Kot Valley to engage Taliban and al Qaeda fighters as part of Operation Anaconda—a battle later written about by journalist Sean Naylor in Not a Good Day to Die. A year later, Friedman commanded a platoon during the invasion of Iraq. He led troops during combat and counterinsurgency operations in Hillah, Baghdad, and Tal Afar. Friedman left active duty in 2004 after spending the latter portion of his Iraq tour as a rifle company executive officer. He was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.[8][9]
In 2007 he wrote The War I Always Wanted, a non-fiction memoir of his experiences in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was named by the Army Times in 2010 as one of their best military books of the decade.[11]Publishers Weekly called the book "cynical but appealing".[12] The Baltimore Sun stated, "You'll want to read parts aloud."[13]
In 2009, Friedman accepted a role as the first director of digital media at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. According to Stars and Stripes, his job was to "revolutionize how the VA interacts with veterans on the Internet."[14] In 2011, AOL Government noted that VA was "becoming a model for other agencies" in the area of social media communication.[15]
After leaving VA in 2012, Friedman joined the global public relations firm FleishmanHillard as a vice president.[16]
