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Democratic Party (United States)

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Democratic Party
ChairpersonKen Martin
Governing bodyDemocratic National Committee[1][2]
Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer
House Minority LeaderHakeem Jeffries
Founders
FoundedJanuary 8, 1828; 198 years ago (1828-01-08)[3]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Preceded byDemocratic-Republican Party
Headquarters430 South Capitol St. SE,
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Student wing
Youth wingYoung Democrats of America
Women's wingNational Federation of Democratic Women
Overseas wingDemocrats Abroad
Ideology
Political positionCenter-left[17]
CaucusesBlue Dog Coalition
New Democrat Coalition
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Colors  Blue
Senate
45 / 100[a]
House of Representatives
212 / 435
State governors
23 / 50
State upper chambers
833 / 1,973
State lower chambers
2,391 / 5,413
Territorial governors
2 / 5
Seats in Territorial upper chambers
21 / 97
Seats in Territorial lower chambers
9 / 91
Election symbol
Website
democrats.org Edit this at Wikidata

The Democratic Party is one of the two biggest political parties in the United States. Since the mid-1850's, the party's main opponent has been the Republican Party. Both political parties have controlled American politics ever since.

Overview

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The party sits at the center to center-left of the American political spectrum, with the Republican Party being positioned to their right.

Every four years, the party holds a National Convention where they agree on their candidate for president. The Democratic National Committee coordinates most of the activities of the Democratic Party in all 50 United States. Since Andrew Jackson's inauguration in 1829, there have been 16 Democratic presidents. The most recent is Joe Biden who took office as the 46th president of the United States in January 2021. The Democratic Party represents a broad spectrum of liberal and left-wing ideologies, including but not limited to classical liberalism, social democracy, progressivism, and social modern liberalism.[source?]

Philosophy

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Democrats, also sometimes called the left, liberals or progressives make up one of the two main political parties in the United States. A state where most voters vote for Democratic politicians is called a blue state. This comes from the party’s main color, which is blue, referring to a state supporting "blue" candidates.

Role of government

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Democrats believe in a strong government with social assistance programs to help members of society. They prefer diplomatic solutions to conflicts, and take generally multilateralist views on trade, believing that trade must be free, but fair to protect American workers, consumers, local communities, and the environment. Some Democrats are economic centrists.[18][19]

Social issues

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Socially, most Democrats believe in sociocultural liberalism, taking pro-immigration, pro-marriage equality, and pro-choice views.[20]

Democratic beliefs

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Currently, the Democratic Party is identified by progressivism, liberalism, and left-wing policies. Not all Democrats hold the same beliefs, but generally these are the things many Democrats support:

  • Progressive income tax
  • Higher corporate taxes and recapturing income from overseas profits
  • Spending on business, education, infrastructure and clean energy
  • Expanding spending on government programs
  • Ending the death penalty
  • Expanding rights to abortion
  • Gun regulations to prevent citizens from hurting themselves and others with firearms
  • Support same-sex marriage
  • Universal healthcare
  • Declare Washington D.C. an official state
  • Helping students go to college or university for free without having to pay back the government
  • Support Reparations
  • Believe in allowing undocumented immigrants to work for their U.S Citizenship in the U.S. to stay, pay taxes, and oppose mass deportation

Most supporters for the Democratic Party come from states in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and the Pacific Coast areas of the US, as well as from the state of Hawaii, though they come from all over the United States.

Symbols

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The symbol of the Democratic Party is the donkey.[21] Since the election of 2000, the color blue has become a symbol for Democrats.[22]

Historically, Thomas Jefferson, whom the party claims as its founder, has been often seen as symbols of the Democratic Party, particularly emphasized in the annual celebrations of Jefferson Day Dinners held since the days of Andrew Jackson. As such, the Democratic Party is also often referred to as the “Party of Jefferson.”[23]

List of Democratic presidents

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# President Portrait State Term start Term end Years in office
7 Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) Tennessee March 4, 1829 March 4, 1837 8 years, 0 days
8 Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) New York March 4, 1837 March 4, 1841 4 years, 0 days
11 James K. Polk (1795–1849) Tennessee March 4, 1845 March 4, 1849 4 years, 0 days
14 Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) New Hampshire March 4, 1853 March 4, 1857 4 years, 0 days
15 James Buchanan (1791–1868) Pennsylvania March 4, 1857 March 4, 1861 4 years, 0 days
17 Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) Tennessee April 15, 1865[b] March 4, 1869 3 years, 323 days
22 Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) New York March 4, 1885 March 4, 1889 8 years, 0 days
24 March 4, 1893 March 4, 1897
28 Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) New Jersey March 4, 1913 March 4, 1921 8 years, 0 days
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) New York March 4, 1933 April 12, 1945[c] 12 years, 39 days
33 Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) Missouri April 12, 1945 January 20, 1953 7 years, 283 days
35 John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) Massachusetts January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963[c] 2 years, 306 days
36 Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) Texas November 22, 1963 January 20, 1969 5 years, 59 days
39 Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) Georgia January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 4 years, 0 days
42 Bill Clinton (born 1946) Arkansas January 28, 1993 January 20, 2001 8 years, 0 days
44 Barack Obama (born 1961) Illinois January 20, 2009 January 20, 2017 8 years, 0 days
46 Joe Biden (born 1942) Delaware January 20, 2021 January 20, 2025 4 years, 0 days

Select list of Democratic politicians

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Independents who work with Democrats

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List of former Democrats

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President Ronald Reagan
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References

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  1. ↑ "About the Democratic Party". Democrats. March 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022. For 171 years, [the Democratic National Committee] has been responsible for governing the Democratic Party
  2. ↑ Democratic Party (September 10, 2022). "The Charter & The Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States" (PDF). p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved March 24, 2025. The Democratic National Committee shall have general responsibility for the affairs of the Democratic Party between National Conventions
  3. ↑ Cole, Donald B. (1970). Jacksonian Democracy in New Hampshire, 1800–1851. Harvard University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-67-428368-8.
  4. ↑ Arnold, N. Scott (2009). Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780495501121. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020. Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States.
  5. ↑ Geismer, Lily (2015). Don't blame us: suburban liberals and the transformation of the Democratic party. Politics and society in twentieth-century America. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15723-8.
  6. ↑ Cebul, Brent; Geismer, Lily (2025). Mastery and drift: professional-class liberals since the 1960s. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-83811-3.
  7. ↑ [4][5][6]
  8. ↑ Bacon, Perry Jr. (March 11, 2019). "The Six Wings Of The Democratic Party". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ Levitz, Eric (October 18, 2018). "America Already Has a Centrist Party. It's Called the Democrats". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  10. ↑ Ball, Molly (February 7, 2014). "No, Liberals Don't Control the Democratic Party". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  11. ↑ Gaudiano, Nicole. "Liberals seek 'ideological shift' in the Democratic Party". USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  12. ↑ Alterman, Eric (2008). Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America. Penguin. p. 339. ISBN 9780670018604. Retrieved March 13, 2017. Suffice to say that there has not been a huge swing away from the center since the 1970s.
  13. 1 2 Chaffin, Joshua; Barrett, Joe (2025-08-03). "Not Just NYC: 'Mamdani of Minneapolis' Nods to Widening Rift in Democratic Party". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-08-04. [...] a widening rift between the party's centrist establishment and a progressive wing [...]
  14. ↑ [8][9][10][11][12][13]
  15. ↑ Stein, Letita; Cornwell, Susan; Tanfani, Joseph (August 23, 2018). "Inside the progressive movement roiling the Democratic Party". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  16. ↑ [15][13]
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ Gould, Joe (2021-05-13). "Bernie Sanders wants to cut defense spending. Not all Democrats agree". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  19. ↑ "Biden's sweeping — and fluid — tax plans are making some congressional Democrats nervous". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ see "History of the Democratic Donkey"
  22. ↑ Farhi, Paul (November 2, 2004). "Elephants Are Red, Donkeys Are Blue". Washington Post. p. C01. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  23. ↑ Trotter, Bill (February 11, 2008). "Obama sets sights on November battle". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
  24. ↑ Tom Murse (July 20, 2019). "Was Donald Trump a Democrat?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  1. ↑ There are 45 senators who are members of the party; however, two independent senators, Angus King and Bernie Sanders, caucus with the Democrats.
  2. ↑ Elected as Vice President with the National Union Party ticket in the 1864 presidential election. Ascended to the presidency after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Rejoined the Democratic Party in 1868.
  3. 1 2 Died in office.
  4. ↑ Pearson was expelled from the Tennessee State House on April 6, 2023 alongside fellow representative Justin Jones for violating House rules by being a member of a gun control protest on the house floor. He was reappointed back to the state house on April 12th.
  5. ↑ Jones was expelled from the Tennessee State House on April 6, 2023 alongside fellow representative Justin Pearson for violating House rules by being a member of a gun control protest on the house floor. He was reappointed back to the state house later that month and Jones won a special election to fill his seat for the rest of the term in August 2023
  6. ↑ Specter joined the Democrats in 2009, two years before leaving office and three years before his death. He previously was a Democrat from 1951-1965 and a Republican from 1965-2009. Specter would run in the Democratic primary for his seat, but would lose to Rep. Joe Sestak of PA-7. He would be succeeded by former Congressman and 2004 senate candidate Pat Toomey

Other websites

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