<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1623093655021.jpeg" alt="Dan Glickman" />
 <figcaption>Dan Glickman</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAN GLICKMAN Former congressman and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Now that all adults are 
eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, we should inject our political 
leaders with a healthy dose of authentic, self-deprecating humor, so 
they can make themselves the butt of their jokes instead of using them 
to add more poison to the American body politic. Seriously, when was the
 last time you heard a politician in Congress making fun of him or 
herself?According to Thomas Ford, a psychologist at Western Carolina University and editor-in-chief of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.humorstudies.org/JournalCenter.htm">HUMOR: The International Journal of Humor Research</a>, “Non-aggressive forms of humor have a real bonding effect. There’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_laughter_brings_us_together">special connection</a>&nbsp;we make with one another when we laugh with one another.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>Throughout American history, we’ve seen our leaders use humor to appease “warring” parties and bring people together — to get things done
 and make America a better, more humane country.&nbsp;Many of our impactful 
leaders of the past, from Lincoln to FDR to Kennedy and Reagan, were 
able to use the power of humor, especially at their own expense, to 
persuade, persevere and ultimately make valuable progress for everyone.If you can laugh at 
yourself and encourage others to do the same, people will like you, 
which means you can more easily inspire others to follow. A friendly 
sense of humor can make people feel closer to each other, a first step 
toward compromise — and getting things done.Positive humor relieves 
stress while negative humor increases it. Jokes at someone’s expense 
tend to keep those people entrenched in their polarizing views, 
especially when they think they are being attacked for their values or 
policy positions. Tacit approval of negative humor on both sides of the 
political spectrum makes people less willing to embrace compromise.<a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/jill_suttie">Jill Suttie</a>, a doctor of psychology and staff writer at <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/">Greater Good</a>,
 says that “humor could be used to heal our political divide rather than
 encourage it.” This is true for conservatives and liberals, as both 
have a choice to make: Do they stay in their silos and use negative 
humor to take potshots at each other, or do they opt to look in the 
mirror, make fun of themselves for a change, and extend an olive branch 
to their “friends across the aisle” and get things done. Because isn’t that the point of being in Congress — to get things done?Our current political leadership, at all levels of government, is missing an opportunity to bring people together and
 become more relatable to voters. Where is the spirit of Mark Twain and 
Will Rogers when we need them?&nbsp;We are living in an age of mean-spirited 
discourse (if you can call it that) and relentless vitriol, which may 
score points for TV pundits but does nothing to create progress. In 
fact, it’s getting us nowhere fast.As a nine-term congressman
 from Kansas, secretary of agriculture under President Bill Clinton, and
 chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, I faced thorny 
challenges on a regular basis. Humor, especially at my own expense, was 
often my best way to communicate and create mutual understanding and 
became my chosen method to get things done. If others could follow my example, it would benefit the country.Of course, I am not so 
naïve to think that humor is a cure-all by itself, and I agree that 
hard-charging rhetoric is sometimes justified during political battles. 
But humor can keep these conflicts from becoming endless wars, which 
just might save our democracy in the process.I’m not suggesting that 
politicians become stand-up comedians. God help us. But folks could 
surely lighten up. Humor can puncture pomposity, defuse tense 
situations, attract allies, and bring focus to serious issues. It is 
essential to disarming colleagues and to get things done.Incidentally, “<a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-3213-8.html">Laughing at Myself</a>” is the title of my new memoir, out this month from the University Press of Kansas.Life is about building 
bridges between rivals, not making permanent enemies, and if we are ever
 going to achieve fairness and equality, humor can help us get there.President Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of Kansas’s favorite sons, expressed this best.“A sense of humor is part of leadership,” he said, “of getting along with people; of getting things done.”Dan Glickman celebrates his book release at two virtual events this month: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8, at Wichita’s <a href="https://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/dan-glickman">Watermark Books &amp; Café</a>, and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 16 at Lawrence’s <a href="https://www.ravenbookstore.com/event/dan-glickman-conversation-burdett-loomis">Raven Book Store</a>.Dan Glickman is a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center; adjunct professor of agriculture and nutrition, Tufts University; board member of the World Food Program USA; and recently retired as vice president and executive director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program. He served for eighteen years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas, as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 to 2001, and as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., from 2004 to 2010.Republished courtesy the Kansas Reflector.

GLICKMAN: What the world needs now is humor