The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Since the late s, its main political rival has been the Republican Party. The Democratic Party was founded in Martin Van Buren , then serving as a senator from New York , played the central role in building the coalition of state organizations that formed a new party as a vehicle to help elect Andrew Jackson of Tennessee as president of the United States.
The Democratic Party is the world's oldest active political party. It initially supported expansive presidential power , agrarianism , and geographical expansionism , while opposing a national bank and high tariffs. It won the presidency only twice [ b ] between and , although it won the popular vote two more times in that period. In the late 19th century, it continued to oppose high tariffs and had fierce internal debates on the gold standard.
In the early 20th century, it partially not all factions supported progressive reforms and opposed imperialism , with Woodrow Wilson winning the White House in and Since Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in , the Democratic Party has promoted a liberal platform that includes support for Social Security and unemployment insurance.
Johnson , who was often able to overcome the conservative coalition in the s, the core bases of the parties shifted, with the Southern states becoming more reliably Republican and the Northeastern states becoming more reliably Democratic. During his and Joe Biden 's presidency, the party has adopted an increasingly progressive economic agenda [ 29 ] [ 30 ] and more left-wing views on cultural and social issues.
On social issues, it advocates for abortion rights , [ 45 ] voting rights , [ 46 ] LGBT rights , [ 47 ] action on climate change , [ 48 ] and the legalization of marijuana. Democratic Party officials often trace its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party , founded by Thomas Jefferson , James Madison and other influential opponents of the conservative Federalists in Since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in , the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues.
