Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties of the United States. The Republican Party is the other. The Democratic Party, the nation’s oldest existing party, has played a vital role in the history and politics of the United States. Traditionally, the Democratic Party has drawn support from several groups, including immigrants, wage earners, and—since the 1930’s—African Americans. Since the late 1900’s, the party’s greatest support has come from the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast. The party’s strength in the South, where it was once dominant, has diminished since the 1960’s.
The policies of the Democratic Party, like those of other parties, have changed with the flow of history. Through the early 1900’s, the Democrats generally favored a limitation on government powers and a strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. But the focus of the party shifted after Woodrow Wilson became president in 1913. As president, Wilson expanded the role of government. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who became president in 1933, expanded government powers even more than Wilson had.
The Democratic Party includes members who favor policies that are strongly liberal (emphasizing freedom, equality, and opportunity) or progressive (favoring moderate social reform by government action). It also includes less ideological members called moderates.
This article chiefly describes the history of the Democratic Party. For information about the party’s national convention and organization, see the articles on Political convention and Political party.
Origin
of the Democratic Party is uncertain. Some historians trace its start to a party called the Democratic-Republican Party that Thomas Jefferson created during the 1790’s (see Democratic-Republican Party). Most historians, however, regard Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign organization, formed in 1828, as the beginning of the Democratic Party as it is known today. 
Jefferson served as president from 1801 to 1809, and other Democratic-Republicans held the presidency from 1809 to 1825. After 1816, however, the Democratic- Republican Party split into several groups and fell apart as a national organization. Jackson became the favorite of one of these groups and gained great popularity. After losing a bid for the presidency in 1824, he easily won election in 1828 and swept to reelection in 1832. By about 1830, Jackson and his followers were called Democrats. By the late 1830’s, top Jacksonian Democrats had turned Jackson’s loose organization into an effective national political party—the Democratic Party.
Jacksonian policies
appealed to a wide variety of voters. Small farmers, large plantation owners, city laborers, state bankers, and a growing number of Irish and German immigrants joined in support of the Democratic Party. They had in common a strong belief in states’ rights and a firm faith in limited government (see States’ rights). But Democrats also disagreed over banking policies, slavery, tariff rates, and other issues.
Under Jackson and Vice President Martin Van Buren, who became president in 1837, the Democrats expanded the spoils system—the use of government jobs and contracts to reward campaign workers and party officials. The Democrats won the presidential election of 1844 with James K. Polk. In 1852, they won with Franklin Pierce and in 1856 with James Buchanan. They also controlled Congress during most of the 1840’s and 1850’s.
The slavery issue,
more than any other, divided the Democrats. During Polk’s administration, from 1845 to 1849, vast new territories in the West became part of the United States. The United States annexed Texas, established control over the Oregon Country, and gained California and other sections of the Southwest. Southerners wanted to extend slavery into the new lands, but many Northerners urged Congress to prohibit it.
Fierce debates led to division within the party and to sectional hostility between North and South. Congressional leaders, such as Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, worked for legislation that would satisfy both sides. They won passage of the Compromise of 1850, which, for a time, quieted both party and sectional differences (see Compromise of 1850).
Hostility flared again after Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In this act, Douglas had provided for “popular sovereignty,” which let settlers decide for themselves whether a new state would permit slavery. The act pleased few people. It led to renewed hostility between North and South and caused the Democratic Party to split apart.
In 1860, Northern Democrats nominated Douglas for president. Southern Democrats chose John C. Breckinridge. Both Democratic candidates lost to Abraham Lincoln, the candidate of the new Republican Party. In 1860 and 1861, 11 Southern states seceded from the Union. In April 1861, shortly after the seventh state had withdrawn, the American Civil War began.
During the Civil War, the Northern Democrats divided. Some, known as the War Democrats, supported Lincoln and the war. The Peace Democrats, especially those known as “Copperheads,” opposed Lincoln and the war. In the election of 1864, many War Democrats joined the Republican Party to form the Union Party. Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat, became Lincoln’s vice presidential running mate. The Peace Democrats nominated General George B. McClellan for the presidency. Lincoln won the election. After Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, Vice President Johnson became president.
After the Civil War,
the popularity of the Democratic Party declined. Republicans condemned the Democrats, claiming they were disloyal to the Union during the war.
Under Johnson’s leadership, the Democrats attacked the Radical Republicans’ plans for Reconstruction, the process by which the Union restored relations with the Confederate states after their defeat (see Reconstruction). Among other actions, the Republicans (1) denied the vote to Southerners who had fought against the Union and (2) gave the vote to Black Southerners. Enraged white Southerners later regained power and deprived Black citizens of the vote. These white Southerners believed that the Republicans opposed most Southern beliefs. Thus, the Democratic “Solid South” was born.
A business depression swept the nation during the 1870’s and helped improve the Democratic Party’s fortunes. Many voters blamed the Republicans for the depression and voted Democratic in the congressional elections of 1874. As a result, the Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives. In 1876, the Democrats made reforms in business and in government the central issue of their campaign. The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, received more popular votes than did his Republican opponent, Rutherford B. Hayes. But Hayes won the election by one electoral vote.
As Civil War issues faded, there seemed to be less and less difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. But the Democrats were distinguished by their support of lower tariffs. The Democrats’ image as supporters of states’ rights and limited government appealed to white Southerners, small farmers, and many Northerners. Drawing on this appeal in 1884, Grover Cleveland became the first Democrat elected president since 1856. He narrowly lost the presidency to Benjamin Harrison in 1888, but he regained it in another close race in 1892.
Tremendous changes had reshaped the economy since the Civil War. Railroads had expanded to carry goods to farmers and farm products to city workers. Vast business and industrial empires had appeared. Politicians knew little about business growth, depressions, or economic theories. Democrats and Republicans favored a policy of laissez faire (nonregulation), and the government left business largely in the hands of business owners. Neither party seemed aware of hardships that industrialization brought to many people.
In 1893, shortly after Cleveland began his second term as president, a major economic depression struck the nation. Farmers cried out against the high railroad charges they had to pay to send their goods to market. Many city workers demanded jobs, and others called for higher wages. Confused by the problems of an increasingly industrialized society, Cleveland followed a laissez-faire policy even as farmers faced ruin, city workers went on strike, and unemployment rose.
The amount of money in circulation became the major campaign issue in the election of 1896. Most Democrats supported free silver, a plan to put more money in circulation by coining silver dollars to help the nation’s economic problems (see Free silver). Most Republicans favored the gold standard, a system in which the nation would define its currency as worth a certain quantity of gold. William Jennings Bryan, a supporter of free silver, won the Democratic presidential nomination with his famous “cross of gold” speech. He campaigned energetically and won wide support in the South and West—but ran poorly in the East and lost the election. Bryan lost again in 1900. Another Democrat, Alton B. Parker, was defeated in 1904, and Bryan lost again in 1908.
Wilsonian democracy.
In 1912, a split in the Republican Party enabled the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, to win the presidency (see Roosevelt, Theodore (“Bull Moose” candidate)). In addition, for the first time in 20 years, the Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress. In 1916, Wilson won reelection, and the Democrats retained control of Congress.
Wilson introduced a number of reforms during his time in office. He wanted to eliminate monopoly and special privilege from American business, but without expanding the regulatory power of the federal government. He worked to restore fair competition and called for Americans to have a “new freedom” to prosper. During his first administration, he signed into law such reform legislation as the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Underwood Tariff Act.
During Wilson’s second administration, World War I (1914-1918) overshadowed his drive for further reform. Wilson directed the nation’s energy to the defeat of Germany. After the war, he called for the United States to join the League of Nations. Wilson, the chief planner of the League, believed that the international organization would help prevent future wars. Most Democrats supported the League, but some joined with conservative Republicans and blocked U.S. membership.
During the 1920’s,
the Democrats failed to win the presidency or to gain control of either house in Congress. The United States seemed prosperous, as business boomed and industries expanded. But beneath the surface of prosperity lay much economic disorder. Neither business nor government took action in spite of danger signals occurring in 1927 and 1928.
In 1928, questions of religion and the prohibition of alcohol divided the Northern and Southern wings of the Democratic Party. Many Southern Democrats were Protestants who supported Prohibition, and they were wary of the party’s presidential nominee, New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. Smith, a Roman Catholic, wanted to repeal the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages. Lack of unity among the Democrats helped Herbert Hoover, the Republican nominee, win a landslide victory.
In 1929, the United States suffered the worst stock market crash in its history. As economic conditions worsened, Hoover’s Republican administration provided aid for some failing banks, railroads, and agricultural organizations. However, Hoover was committed to the concept of “rugged individualism,” and he refused to offer direct government aid to people in need of relief from the economic disaster.
The New Deal.
The Great Depression brought a revolution in the fortunes of the Democratic Party. Democrats won every presidential election of the 1930’s and 1940’s and controlled Congress for most of that period. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the elections of 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944, becoming the only person to win the presidency four times.
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Roosevelt was the dominant figure of the Depression years. He did even more than Wilson to convert the Democrats from a party of states’ rights and limited government to one of national reform. During the 1932 campaign, he had promised Americans a “new deal” that included economic relief, recovery, and reform, and a better life for what he called the “forgotten man.” Roosevelt followed through on the promises of his New Deal program by greatly extending the role of government. Under the New Deal, the federal government imposed numerous business regulations and passed laws to help the needy. Roosevelt’s personality and confidence made him a hero to millions. See New Deal.
Most farmers, intellectuals, unemployed workers, wage earners, and members of minority groups supported the New Deal and voted Democratic. Most Southerners and residents of big cities also backed the party. But conservatives—both Democrats and Republicans—believed that the federal government was taking far too great a role in people’s lives. In response to Roosevelt’s 1937 plan to reorganize the Supreme Court of the United States, many conservative Southern Democrats joined with Republicans in a conservative coalition (see Roosevelt, Franklin D. (The Supreme Court)). The coalition blocked many Democratic attempts at reform.
During World War II (1939-1945), Roosevelt turned the nation’s efforts toward defeating Germany and Japan. Roosevelt died in 1945. Vice President Harry S. Truman succeeded him as president.
The Fair Deal.
Truman continued the policies of the New Deal, calling his program the Fair Deal. He fought for civil rights for African Americans and for a national medical insurance plan. However, Southern Democrats often joined Republicans to block Truman’s efforts. In 1948, some Southern Democrats formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party, or Dixiecrat Party, to oppose Truman (see Dixiecrat Party). But he won a surprise victory over the Republican candidate, Thomas E. Dewey.
In both 1952 and 1956, the Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai E. Stevenson, lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the nation’s greatest heroes of World War II. Yet the Democrats controlled Congress for the last six of Eisenhower’s eight years in office.
The New Frontier.
Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts won the presidency in 1960, defeating the Republican nominee, Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy called for numerous reforms in his program, which he named the New Frontier. Democrats outnumbered Republicans in both houses of Congress, but conservative Southern Democrats frequently joined Republicans to defeat bills that Kennedy supported.
The Great Society.
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president after Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. In 1964, Johnson won a full term as president with a landslide victory over his Republican opponent, Barry M. Goldwater. Johnson worked hard for the program that Kennedy had begun. Johnson called on the nation to join him in building what he termed the Great Society. Congress approved Johnson’s requests for aid to cities and education, landmark civil rights legislation, greater Social Security benefits, and tax cuts. See Great Society.
Times of trouble.
By 1966, the Vietnam War—and the nationwide disagreement over it—overshadowed Johnson’s Great Society program. The war divided many Americans into “hawks,” who supported U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and “doves,” who opposed it.
Johnson announced that he would not run for reelection in 1968, and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey became the Democratic nominee. George C. Wallace, a Southern Democrat, ran as the candidate of a third party, the American Independent Party. The Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon, won the presidency, but the Democrats kept control of Congress. Much of Nixon‘s success in the election was credited to his “Southern strategy,” in which he appealed to conservative white Southerners. Nixon’s emphasis on patriotism, law and order, and a slower approach to school integration helped erode the support that Democrats long had enjoyed in the South.
In 1969, Democratic Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota led a commission that adopted new rules for states to follow in selecting convention delegates. The rules reduced the influence of party leaders on the nominating process and provided greater representation for minorities, women, and youth. The reforms led most states to adopt laws requiring primary elections, instead of party leaders, to choose delegates.
In the 1972 election, the Democrats nominated McGovern, and the Republicans renominated Nixon. Nixon won a landslide victory. However, in 1974, Nixon resigned from the presidency rather than face impeachment for the Watergate scandal (see Watergate). Vice President Gerald R. Ford succeeded him.
The late 1900’s.
Jimmy Carter, the Democratic nominee, defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election. The Democrats also retained control of Congress. In the 1980 election, however, Carter lost his bid for a second term. He was defeated by former California Governor Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate. The Democrats also lost the Senate to the Republicans, though they kept control of the House.
Walter F. Mondale, Carter’s vice president, became the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984. His running mate, Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York, was the first woman vice presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party. However, Reagan easily won a second term, and the Republicans retained control of the Senate.
The elections of 1986 gave the Democrats control of both houses of Congress. In 1988, Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis won the Democratic presidential nomination. He lost the election to Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush, but the Democrats retained control of Congress.
In 1992, Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, the Democratic candidate, defeated Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot in the presidential election But in 1994, the Democrats lost both houses of Congress to the Republicans. The shift in control marked the first time since January 1955 that the Republicans controlled both houses. In 1996, Clinton was reelected, defeating Republican Robert J. Dole. However, the Republicans kept control of Congress in 1996 and 1998.
The early 2000’s.
Vice President Al Gore was the Democratic candidate in 2000. His running mate, Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, was the first Jewish vice presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party. Gore lost to his Republican opponent, Texas Governor George W. Bush, in one of the closest presidential races in U.S. history. The Republicans kept control of the House, but the election left the Senate with 50 Republican members and 50 Democratic members
In 2001, the Republicans lost a Senate seat when Vermont Senator James Jeffords left the party and became an Independent. As a result, the Democrats gained control of the Senate. However, they lost control to the Republicans after elections in 2002.
In 2004, Bush won reelection, defeating Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee. During his second term, Bush’s public approval ratings fell, partially as a result of opposition to the Iraq War, which had begun in 2003. The Republican Party also experienced internal divisions over such issues as immigration, deficit spending, and lobbying reform.
In the 2006 congressional elections, the Democrats won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994. The victory enabled California Representative Nancy Pelosi to become the first female speaker of the House. Other leading figures of the Democratic Party included Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton. Political experts attributed the Democratic gains in part to public dissatisfaction with the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq War, as well as to scandals involving Republican lawmakers. A number of moderate candidates helped the Democratic Party compete in more conservative districts.
In the 2008 election, Senator Barack Obama defeated his Republican opponent, Arizona Senator John McCain. Obama became the nation’s first African American president. An economic crisis that struck in the months before the election contributed to the Democratic victory. In 2010, voter frustration with the slow pace of an economic recovery contributed to a Democratic loss of the House. But in 2012, Obama defeated his Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, to win reelection. In the 2014 elections, Democrats lost their majority in the Senate, giving Republicans control of both houses of Congress. 
In the 2016 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, lost to her Republican opponent, New York businessman Donald J. Trump. In 2018, Democrats sought to make the elections a referendum on Trump’s policies. Democratic candidates gained control of the House but failed to win the Senate. In 2020, Joe Biden, who had served as Obama’s vice president, won the party’s nomination to face Trump in the presidential election. Biden defeated Trump in the election by a considerable margin. Biden’s running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California, became the first woman to be elected vice president. Democrats maintained control in the House. Control of the Senate was evenly divided, but Harris, who as vice president can cast tie-breaking votes, gave her party a functional majority in the chamber. Republicans narrowly captured the House in the 2022 elections. Democrats kept their functional majority in the Senate.
