In 1969 and 1970, Glickman served on the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1976, he ran for Congress as a Democrat from Kansas. In his last term, he was the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was defeated for reelection, by Todd Tiahrt, in the election of 1994, one of numerous Democrats to lose their seats.
Glickman Inc. was founded by Jacob Glickman and later continued and expanded by Milton and Bill Glickman.
With the death of Milton Glickman, Dan's father, in December 1999, Dan and his siblings Norman and Sharon Glickman carried on the family business until it was sold in 2002.
In 1969 and 1970, Glickman worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, then was a partner in a law firm, Sargent, Klenda and Glickman.
Daniel R. Glickman, who has spent more than 25 years in public service on both the federal and local levels, has been named director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Kennedy School of Government by Dean Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Glickman served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, first winning election in Kansas' 4th Congressional District in 1976.
Glickman currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; the Communities in Schools; the D.C. Central Kitchen; America's Second Harvest; the Food Research and Action Center; the RFK Memorial Foundation; and The Farm Foundation.