Democratic Party (United States)

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

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.

## Philosophy

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

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.

### Social issues

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

## Democratic beliefs

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

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

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.”

## List of Democratic presidents

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

## Select list of Democratic politicians

- Kamala Harris (California), Vice President, former presidential nominee and U.S. Senator from California
- Jasmine Crockett (Texas), U.S. House of Representative
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), U.S. House of Representatives of New York
- Summer Lee (Pennsylvania), U.S. House of Representatives
- Lauren Underwood (Illinois) , U.S. House of Representatives
- Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), U.S. House of Representatives
- Shontel Brown (Ohio) , U.S. House of Representatives
- Wes Moore (Maryland), Governor of Maryland
- Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) , U.S. House of Representatives
- Justin J. Pearson (Tennessee), U.S. House of Representatives
- Justin Jones      (Tennessee), U.S. House of Representatives
- Cory Booker (New Jersey), Senator of New Jersey
- Barack Obama (Illinois), former President
- Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader
- Gavin Newsom (California), Governor of California
- Jim Clyburn (South Carolina), Representative and Assistant Democratic Leader
- Al Gore (Tennessee), former presidential candidate and vice-president
- Howard Dean (Vermont), former Governor and former head of the Democratic National Committee, former presidential nominee
- John Kerry (Massachusetts), former Secretary of State, former Senator, former presidential nominee
- Patrick Leahy (Vermont), former President Pro Tempore, Senator, and Dean of the Senate
- Christopher Dodd (Connecticut), former Senator
- Mario Cuomo (New York), former Governor
- Dick Durbin (Illinois), Senate Whip
- George Moscone (California), former Mayor of San Francisco
- Harvey Milk (California), Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
- Hillary Clinton (New York), former Secretary of State, former Senator, former First Lady, former presidential nominee
- William M. Daley (Illinois), candidate for Governor of Illinois, former White House Chief of Staff
- Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey), former Senator
- Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois
- Paul Simon (Illinois), former Senator
- Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania), former Senator
- Tom Bradley (California), former Mayor of Los Angeles
- London Breed (California), former Mayor of San Francisco
- Karen Bass (California), Mayor of Los Angeles and former U.S. House of Representatives
- Richard M. Daley (Illinois), former Mayor of Chicago
- Richard J. Daley (Illinois), former Mayor of Chicago
- John F. Kennedy, former President (Massachusetts)
- Robert F. Kennedy, former Senator, former presidential candidate, and brother of John F. Kennedy
- Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), former President Pro Tempore, former Senator, and former Dean of the Senate
- Martin Van Buren (New York), 8th President of the United States
- Steny Hoyer (Maryland), House Minority Whip
- Robert Byrd (West Virginia), former President Pro Tempore, former Senator, and former Dean of the Senate
- Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts
- Tim Kaine (Virginia), Governor, 2016 vice presidential nominee and former head of the Democratic National Committee
- Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Representative
- Janet Napolitano (Arizona), Secretary of Homeland Security
- Brian Schweitzer (Montana), former Governor
- Harry Reid (Nevada), former Senate Minority Leader, former Majority Leader
- Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (Virginia), former Senator
- Bill Richardson (New Mexico), Governor
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida), Representative and former head of the Democratic National Committee
- Mark Warner (Virginia), Senator and former Governor
- Rahm Emanuel (Illinois), Mayor of Chicago, former White House Chief of Staff
- Nancy Pelosi (California), Speaker of the House, former Speaker of the House.
- Chuck Schumer (New York), Senator, former Senate Majority Leader
- Bob Menendez (New Jersey), Senator

## Independents who work with Democrats

- Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont
- Angus King, Senator from Maine

## List of former Democrats

- Ronald Reagan (California), 40th president of the United States (1981–1989). Registered Democrat until 1962.
- Condoleezza Rice (Alabama), 66th United States Secretary of State (2005–2009). Registered Democrat until 1982.
- Rudy Giuliani (New York), 107th Mayor of New York City (1994–2001). Registered Democrat until 1975.
- Rick Perry (Texas), 14th United States Secretary of Energy (2017–2019), 47th Governor of Texas (2000–2015). Registered Democrat until 1989.
- Jesse Helms (North Carolina), United States Senator (1973–2003). Registered Democrat (1942–1970).
- Donald Trump (New York), 45th and 47th President of the United States (2017–2021), (2025–present) Registered Democrat on and off until 2009.

## Related pages

- Libertarian Party
- Democratic-Republican Party

## Other websites

- Official website

## Infobox (political party)

- **name**: Democratic Party
- **logo**: US Democratic Party 2025 logo (positive).svg
- **logo size**: 250px
- **chairperson**: Ken Martin
- **founded**:

- **headquarters**: 430 South Capitol Street, South Capitol St. SE,
Washington, D.C., U.S.
- **country**: the United States
- **colors**: Blue
- **governing body**: Democratic National Committee
- **predecessor**: Democratic-Republican Party
- **youth wing**: Young Democrats of America
- **womens wing**: National Federation of Democratic Women
- **symbol**:
- **leader2 title**: Party leaders of the United States Senate, Senate Minority Leader
- **leader2 name**: Chuck Schumer
- **leader3 title**: Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader
- **leader3 name**: Hakeem Jeffries
- **wing2 title**: Overseas wing
- **wing2**: Democrats Abroad
- **affiliation1 title**: Congressional caucuses, Caucuses
- **affiliation1**: Blue Dog Coalition
New Democrat Coalition
Congressional Progressive Caucus
- **seats1 title**: United States Senate, Senate
- **seats2 title**: United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives
- **seats3 title**: List of current United States governors#State governors, State governors
- **seats4 title**: State legislature (United States), State upper chambers
- **seats5 title**: State legislature (United States), State lower chambers
- **seats6 title**: List of current United States governors#Territory governors, Territorial governors
- **seats7 title**: Seats in Territories of the United States#Governments and legislatures, Territorial upper chambers
- **seats8 title**: Seats in Territories of the United States#Governments and legislatures, Territorial lower chambers