Back in the days of Vice President Hubert Humphrey, this was known as “the politics of joy.”

“I enjoy life,” Humphrey once said. “It’s a delight. You only live a short time. You ought to enjoy every fleeting moment.”

Humphrey was the quintessential Happy Warrior, although the phrase didn’t originate with him. It was, in fact, coined by William Wordsworth back in the early 19th century, in a poem that Grover Cleveland is said to have loved so much that he wanted it read at his funeral.

What is a Happy Warrior? It’s someone for whom the battle itself is the source of joy. Or as Molly Ivins once wrote, “You got to have fun while you’re fightin’ for freedom, ’cause you don’t always win.”

Thinking about it now, the idea of politician-as-Happy-Warrior seems quaint, like elbow-length evening gloves for women or men wearing stovepipe hats. Maybe Happy Warriors were a better fit back when the country was, you know, happier. There was a time when optimism — about ourselves, about the nation, about our sense of history — seemed baked into the American character.

Senator Bernie Sanders is not a Happy Warrior. A warrior, definitely. Happy? Not so much.

Not that there haven’t been moments of joy in his campaign. During his last run, a little sparrow landed on the podium while he was making a speech, and the Vermont senator’s face lit up. Then the sparrow took off, and for just a second Mr. Sanders watched it fly off and gestured with one hand toward the heavens. “I think there may be some symbolism here,” he said. Nice.