Friedman was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1949[3] to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust.

at the City College of New York, where he majored in political science, and a Ph.D. in government at Cornell University.

[1] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he studied potential for a Japan-U.S. conflict and co-authored with his wife The Coming War with Japan in 1991.

[5] Friedman spent nearly 20 years in academia, during which time he taught political science at Dickinson College.

[10][11] Friedman's latest book, The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond, was released in 2020 by Doubleday.