Democratic Party

The **Democratic Party** is one of the two major political parties in the United States, having been one since 1828, and as such, appears in many Campaign Trail scenarios. Their main rival is the Republican Party.

## History

### Before 1860

The Democratic Party was formed by supporters of General Andrew Jackson after Jackson lost the 1824 presidential election in the House of Representatives. The Jacksonian Democrats were able to use many modern campaign techniques such as memorabilia and rallies to help Jackson get elected. The party's main ideology at the time was populism, the belief that "the people" deserve more political power. The party also generally opposed tariffs and national banking and supported the spoils system and Indian removal. Their base was in the South and West and among farmers and Irish immigrants. The party also supported the annexation of Texas and expansionism in general, the main reason that James Polk was nominated over Martin Van Buren in 1844.

In 1860, the party split over slavery. with the southern Democrats backing John C. Breckinridge for president while the northern Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas, leaving them little chance of winning the election. Indeed, the Democrats lost the election to Republican Abraham Lincoln, causing the South to secede from the Union and a Civil War to start, which the North won.

### 1860 - 1896

The Democrats were hurt by the Civil War, with them being associated with the traitorous South. Nevertheless, they regained some political strength and in 1884, Grover Cleveland became the first Democrat elected president in almost 30 years. Cleveland was helped by the unpopularity of his Republican opponent James Blaine, who was viewed by many as corrupt. Cleveland lost his reelection bid in 1888 but made a comeback in 1892, defeating incumbent Benjamin Harrison and becoming the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. The Democrats during this period were supportive of classical liberalism, and moved to the right on economics, generally supporting fiscal conservatism, as well as opposing imperialism and expansionism. They also strongly supported the gold standard.

### 1896 - 1932

The party took a left-ward shift on economics in 1896 with the nomination of William Jennings Bryan and his pro-silver agenda. Bryan lost the election, but his ideas led to the rise of progressives in the Democratic Party, more pro-labor and anti-monopoly than their Bourbon Democrat predecessors, culminating in the election of Woodrow Wilson to the presidency in 1912. Wilson enacted progressive reforms such as a federal income tax and child labor laws. Nevertheless, the Republicans remained dominant, with Wilson being the only Democrat elected during this period.

### 1932 - 1964

The Republican dominance was disrupted by the Great Depression, which occurred under Republican president Herbert Hoover. In 1932, the Democrats nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt, the charismatic liberal governor of New York. Roosevelt was able to win in a landslide against Hoover. Roosevelt implemented his ambitious New Deal agenda and proved to be a popular president, leading the United States during World War II. After Roosevelt's death in 1945, his vice president Harry Truman became president and managed to pull off an upset in 1948. However, the party began to split over issues relating to civil rights and race. Tensions between northern liberals and southern segregationists led to segregationist splinter groups nominating alternate candidates in 1948 and 1960.

### 1964 - present

In 1963, Democrat president John F. Kennedy was assassinated, leading to his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson ascending to the presidency. Although Johnson was a southern Democrat who was chosen to help appease segregationists during the 1960 election, as president he pushed for the expansion of civil rights for African-Americans and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson cemented the Democrats as a liberal party and the election of 1964 saw the South abandon the Democrats for the Republicans, while Johnson carried the rest of the country in a landslide. Although southern Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton would manage to win some southern states, by 2000, the once staunchly Democratic south was a Republican stronghold.

In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter was able to win the election as an outsider at a time when the public distrusted the Republican establishment due to the Watergate scandal. However, Carter was an unpopular president and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. The Reagan Revolution shifted America towards conservatism and Democratic candidates were defeated in landslides in 1984 and 1988. In 1992, the nomination of Arkansas governor Bill Clinton saw the party move towards the center, becoming more center-right on economics while remaining socially liberal. Clinton was elected twice and proved a popular president. Since 1992, every Democratic nominee except for John Kerry in 2004 has won the nationwide popular vote. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first black president. The current president, Joe Biden, is a Democrat, having been elected in 2020.

Currently the Democratic party supports American liberalism. Democrats support Social Security, public education, a higher minimum wage, voting rights, abortion access, immigration, LGBT rights, and gun control. There is some debate between the more moderate and more progressive factions in the party over issues such as foreign policy and healthcare. The party's base is in the Northeast and West Coast and among college graduates, union workers, young people, women, LGBT people, ethnic and racial minorities, Jews, and the nonreligious.