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Former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman’s new autobiography covers the humor and trials of public service.

Jennifer M. Latzke, Editor

May 28, 2021

5 Min Read
Dan Glickman speaks with then Senate Majority Leader Robert
STATESMEN: Prior to his testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee, during his nomination process to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, former Rep. Dan Glickman (right) speaks with then-Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (left), R-Kan., on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Glickman discusses working across the aisle with Republicans like Dole and former Kansas Sens. Nancy Landon Kassebaum and Pat Roberts in his autobiography, “Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm and at the Movies,” which comes out June 8 and is published by University Press of Kansas.JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/Getty Images

Former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman didn’t have a traditional background in agriculture before he came to Capitol Hill as a freshman congressman from the 4th District of Kansas in 1976.

Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman

LEADING WITH HUMOR: Former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman is publishing his autobiography, “Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm and at the Movies,” which is being released June 8. It’s published by University Press of Kansas. (Courtesy of Steve Johnson)

And yet, he says that his time in public service for the farmers of Kansas and the nation — first as a member of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, and then as Secretary of Agriculture — taught him more than he expected. He discusses that and more in his autobiography, “Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm and at the Movies,” which comes out June 8 and is published by University Press of Kansas.

An ag education

“It was the best decision I ever made to go on the Agriculture Committee and get involved in farm policy,” Glickman says. “I would never have been Secretary of Agriculture if I hadn’t been on that committee.”

The late 1970s and early 1980s were turbulent times in American agriculture. And one of the earliest tests of Glickman’s mettle as a freshman representative was the Russian grain embargo enacted by then-President Jimmy Carter in response to the former Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

“When President Carter imposed the embargo on grain with respect to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, there was bipartisan opposition across the board, and we worked together to mitigate the impact on farmers,” Glickman recalls.

Writing farm bills in the 1970s and 1980s was much different than it is today and it will be when the next farm bill is up for debate in a few years, he says.

“Back then, in the 1970s and 80s, farm prices were very low, but the amount of money the U.S. government was putting into agriculture payments was a fraction of what it is now,” Glickman says. Total farm program payments to farmers may have amounted to just $3 billion in the 1970s, whereas today there may be upward of $30 billion in farm payments. The magnitude of government assistance to farmers is much greater, he says, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every farmer is doing better. Many of the programs farmers benefit from today, such as subsidized crop insurance, were ideas that started through work back then.

Bipartisanship then and now

Glickman says bipartisanship 40 years ago was a different thing than it is today. In the late 1970s, Kansas politics were much more bipartisan, with a delegation split pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Glickman says.

“I worked closely with (then) Congressman Pat Roberts, and Sen. Bob Dole,” he says. Along with former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, they worked as a total team when it came to agriculture issues for Kansans, he adds. Partly because everyone should be able to find some common ground on feeding people and taking care of the farmers, Glickman explains, but also because that was an era when there were only three television channels, and local radio stations and newspapers were much more prevalent.

Listen to the podcast: Reflecting on a life of service

“People today are getting their information from advocacy organizations that pull them apart rather than put them together,” Glickman says. “Dole, and Kassebaum and Roberts and myself and others, had the benefit of not having those toxic influences around. We had the incentive to come together for what was best for Kansas farmers and Kansas folks in the cities.”

Glickman says there’s a need to bring urban and farm people together, across the aisles, to continue to have strong programs for farmers and keep the nation fed and safe.

“It’s so important that the Department of Agriculture continue to have jurisdiction over farm programs and nutrition programs,” he says. The food programs bring urban representatives to the table, and the farm programs bring rural representatives to the same table to compromise.

Leading with humor

In his book, Glickman reviews his career and the major moments that taught him leadership lessons. From writing farm bills to implementing policy at the USDA, through it all he says he used humor as a mechanism for building bridges between different sides. That’s why he titled the autobiography “Laughing at Myself.”

“The underlying theme is the need for humor in life, especially self-deprecating humor,” he explains. If you can laugh at yourself, you can reduce tensions and bring people together, he adds.

He details stories of his time not only in public office and as USDA secretary, but also his work as the former president of the Motion Picture Association of America, lobbying for Hollywood. He also shares memories about growing up as a Jewish boy in Wichita, Kan., in the 1950s, and how that shaped his leadership methods.  

“I had a strange career,” Glickman says. “I was a Jewish kid from Kansas without much involvement in or history of agriculture.” And yet, he was able to learn and work for Kansas farmers.

And that was by following the single most important piece of advice he got from his mother.

“She told me you have two ears and one mouth for a simple reason,” he says. “You learn by listening more than you do by pontificating. Sometimes what you listen to, you don’t agree with. But it might actually make sense.”

Book available June 8

To order Glickman’s book, visit University Press of Kansas. It’s also available via most online booksellers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books & Books, and Indiebound. In Kansas, readers can buy it at Watermark Books in Wichita and at The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, starting June 8.

 

 

About the Author(s)

Jennifer M. Latzke

Editor, Kansas Farmer

Through all her travels, Jennifer M. Latzke knows that there is no place like Kansas.

Jennifer grew up on her family’s multigenerational registered Angus seedstock ranch and diversified farm just north of Woodbine, Kan., about 30 minutes south of Junction City on the edge of the Kansas Flint Hills. Rock Springs Ranch State 4-H Center was in her family’s backyard.

While at Kansas State University, Jennifer was a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority and a national officer for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. She graduated in May 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and a minor in animal science. In August 2000 Jennifer started her 20-year agricultural writing career in Dodge City, Kan., on the far southwest corner of the state.

She’s traveled across the U.S. writing on wheat, sorghum, corn, cotton, dairy and beef stories as well as breaking news and policy at the local, state and national levels. Latzke has traveled across Mexico and South America with the U.S. Wheat Associates and toured Vietnam as a member of KARL Class X. She’s traveled to Argentina as one of 10 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism. And she was part of a delegation of AAEA: The Ag Communicators Network members invited to Cuba.

Jennifer’s an award-winning writer, columnist, and podcaster, recognized by the Kansas Professional Communicators, Kansas Press Association, the National Federation of Presswomen, Livestock Publications Council, and AAEA. In 2019, Jennifer reached the pinnacle of achievements, earning the title of “Writer of Merit” from AAEA.

Trips and accolades are lovely, but Jennifer says she is happiest on the road talking to farmers and ranchers and gathering stories and photos to share with readers.

“It’s an honor and a great responsibility to be able to tell someone’s story and bring them recognition for their work on the land,” Jennifer says. “But my role is also evolving to help our more urban neighbors understand the issues our Kansas farmers face in bringing the food and fiber to their store shelves.”

She spends her time gardening, crafting, watching K-State football, and cheering on her nephews and niece in their 4-H projects. She can be found on Twitter at @Latzke.

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