Paul Rieckhoff

Paul Rieckhoff is an American writer, social entrepreneur, activist, and veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He is president of Righteous Media Inc and host of the Independent Americans podcast. After serving as an Army first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq, Rieckhoff established the non-partisan non-profit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in 2004. He was released from the Army National Guard in 2007. Rieckhoff was the 2021 Karl Loewenstein Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Amherst College, where he offered the course "Understanding 9/11" on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.