American Politics

Jessica Herrin
November 20, 2008
 “I was of no party myself and the first wish of my heart was, if parties did exist, to

reconcile them.” wrote George Washington, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1796, the same

year in which he warned America against forming alliances and factions, or political parties, in

his Farewell Address (Smith, 12-13). Ironically, Jefferson was the leader of one of the first

modern political parties, the Jeffersonian Democratic- Republican Party (Maisel, 28). Early

parties were known for their power and influence. As they grew, parties would sometimes help

assist immigrants as well as other people with jobs and other material incentives. As Tom

Pendergast put it, “The important thing is to get the votes- no matter what.” (Maisel, 56-57).The

Federalist party, which Washington is often said to have joined, disintegrated after the War of

1812. The Whig party emerged from divisions within the Democratic-Republicans (Holt, 2).

They became front runners winning the presidential elections of 1841 and 1849 but failing to

win the presidency again ( bensguide.gpo.gov).

In 1792, four years before Washington would speak against political parties, the

Democratic Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson. The party was founded on the stance that

“wealth and social status weren’t an entitlement to rule…wisdom and compassion could be

found within every individual and a stable government must be built upon a broad popular base.”

Created against the Federalist Party, the Democratic Party officially became the Democratic

Republican Party in 1798, two years before they would elect Jefferson the first Democratic

president. Within the next two decades Jefferson’s successor, James Madison, would make a

name for himself by strengthening armed forces and reaffirming independence by winning the

War of 1812. John Quincy Adams became president in 1824 after a four-way split in the party.

This split resulted in one of the Democratic-Republican’s “founding fathers”, Andrew Jackson, to

branch off with the Jacksonian Democrats. The Democratic-Republican Party was reunified in
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1828 when they elected Jackson to the presidency (democrats.org, “Party History”). It was

Jackson, who the media first used the Democrats now iconic donkey, to represent

(democrats.org, “History of the Democratic Donkey”). The first National Convention, held in

1832, nominated Jackson to his second term and would later change the party’s name to just the

Democratic Party in 1844. By 1848 they would establish the Democratic National Committee to

promote “the Democratic cause”; they are now the “longest running political organization in the

world.” (democrats.org, ”Party History”) With the exception of a few presidents who were part

of the Whig party which only lasted one term, the Democratic Party remained in power for most

of the first half of the nineteenth century. During the later half of the century, the Republican

party would emerge and the Democratic Party would lose in six of the ten elections held

(bensguide.gpo.gov). The Democratic Party would be set back some with the Civil War. The

South was mostly Democratic, their succession gave the Republicans a better chance at power.

When the war was over, the Republican party tried to keep the Democratic Party from advancing

again. At the early part of the 20th century, the Democratic Party had a fairly strong following in

the cotton and tobacco areas as well as the western farming and mining areas. More immigrants

seemed to vote democratic (Sanders, 161). This wasn’t enough to keep power, however;

following President Woodrow Wilson’s second term, in 1921, the Democrats would lose power

again, this time for a little over a decade (bensguide.gpo.gov).

The Great Depression would begin before the Democrats could take power again.

Franklin D. Roosevelt would win the 1932 election to end their losing streak. But what was it

that helped him get elected? Roosevelt was able to overcome his disabilities which helped the

American people look past them too. He was said to be “chipper…at a time when the nation and

world sorely needed him to be…the very embodiment of self-confidence.” FDR was able to

restore hope in the American people (Geewax). “Hope is that thing inside us that insists… that
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something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it”- Barack Obama (Meacham,

29); this hope gave them the courage to reach for that better life they once lived in order to get

them out of the Great Depression. He “…pushed for reforms and restored a sense of

justice…”(Geewax).

When John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he would once again challenge Americans.

This time though, he dared them to do the “impossible”. Things such as sending man to the

moon, forming the Peace Corps and banning nuclear weapons. He worked with Lyndon Johnson

to end segregation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave blacks the absolute right to vote. Their

involvement with the Democratic Party gave the party a slight boost at first, but the “southern

whites bent on maintaining racial hierarchy still controlled the electoral system.” The large

numbers of new democrats eventually undermined their dominance. After 1964 there was a

gradual “dealignment” of self-identified democrats. This erosion continued into the seventies and

accelerated in the eighties. (Green, Palmquist and Schickler,141,143,146). The Republicans took

control of the White House for another twelve years in 1981. In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected,

and went on to have the “longest period of economic expansion in peacetime

history”(democrats.org, “Party History”). He was also very willing to reexamine traditional

values (Kaufman). The Democrats during this time passed acts, such as The Deficit Reduction

Act of 1993, without any votes from the Republican party. Clinton became the first Democrat to

be reelected since FDR. The Republicans took presidential power yet again in 2000, however, in

2001 the Democrats regained control of the Senate (democrats.org, “Party History”).

Democrats have always been “the party of the common man”. They describe themselves

as “America’s best hope to bridge the divisions of class, race, region, religion and sexual

orientation.” They helped to pass the first labor and child welfare laws as well as pave the way

for the rights of minorities as well as women (democrats.org, “Party History”). The New Deal
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Coalition which supported FDR and the Democrats was made up of white southerners, urban

working-class Americans, and Union members. Members of the Democratic party don’t tend to

be the richest, in 2006, there were less than 30% of members in the top third of income on the

national level. More minority groups and those of the Jewish and Catholic faith, also identified

themselves with the Democrats than with the Republicans. By 2006, however, only 34% reported

that they attend church while a mere 7% would identify themselves as of the Christian faith

(Maisel, 80-83). They tend to give more power to the Middle Class instead of the wealthier

people of the country and work to get more people back into jobs. They always work to ensure

everyone can exercise the rights they deserve to have as well as protect those rights and the

people of the nation (democrats.org, “The Democratic Platform”).

Anti-slavery activists and those believing that settlers should be allowed to expand

westward, free of charge, were some of the founders behind the actual Republican Party.

Beginning in the mid-1800s the Republican party reminded people of Jefferson’s Democratic-

Republican Party. The first meeting was on July 6, 1854, by 1856 it was a national party with

John C. Fremont running for president. Although Fremont won a third of the vote, the

Democratic and Whig Parties remained the front runners of the time, and it wouldn’t be until the

next election, in 1860, that a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, would take the presidential office

(gop.com, “GOP History”). The country broke apart in 1861, with the succession of the mostly

Democratic South and the start of the Civil War. During the war Lincoln worked to establish the

Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Internal Revenue, a national banking system; passed the

Homestead Act; and helped encourage education with the Land Grant College Act. Lincoln

worked with the other Republicans to secure a better quality of life for blacks with the signing of

the Emancipation Proclamation as well as the 13th Amendment. After Lincoln’s assassination, the

Republican Party would, continuing with civil rights, pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, as well
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as ratify the 14th Amendment in 1868 (gop.com, “The First Republican”). The Republicans

would win five of the seven elections in the closing of the century (bensguide.gpo.gov).

Theodore Roosevelt took office when William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. During this

term he successfully ended conflicts between Russia and Japan which he was given a Nobel

Peace Prize for. He was elected to his own term in 1905 and could have won a third term

election, but he chose to retire (gop.com, “The Bull Moose”). “When Teddy Roosevelt was in

office…reform-minded Republicans [were convinced] that the party had stepped into the

forefront of a popular movement to cure the ills of industrial society. With Taft in the White

House, this hope faded.” (Sanders, 167). Roosevelt saw this hope fading and decided in 1912

that he was unsatisfied with President William Taft and chose to run for his third term with his

own Bull Moose Party. This plan backfired because with the split Republican vote, Woodrow

Wilson was able to win the presidency. The Republican Party gained control of Congress by

1918 (gop.com, “ The Bull Moose”). Republicans would regain control of the White House with

Harding in 1921 and keep it until FDR’s victory in 1932. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 at first

brought a little more power to the Democrats. Eventually the Democratic Party began to

“dealign” and the there was a rise in Independent and “leaning” voters. Eventually the growth of

the Independents also began to decline and “realign” towards the Republican Party. By the

1980’s the South saw the Republican party differently, by the 90’s the National Republican

leadership was increasingly Southern (Green, Palmquist and Schickler, 141-143).

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote:

“It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventually find its way into the

political world…To conceive of men remaining forever unequal upon one single

point, yet equal on all others is impossible…. I know of only two methods of

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 establishing equality in the political world; every citizen must be put in possession

of his rights, or rights must be granted to no one.” (59).

“Intelligence has no color.” (Halperin, 287). The Republican Party was formed “as an answer to

divided politics, political turmoil, arguments and internal division, particularly over slavery.”

(gop.com, “From the Beginning”). The Republicans worked to pass the 14th and 15th

Amendments securing voting rights for African Americans(gop.com, “GOP History”). Free

speech and women’s sufferage were two other topics which the Republican Party began fighting

for before the Democrats. They have always fought for individual’s rights, and believe that the

nation’s strength lies with the individual and that we must preserve the strength and pride. They

believe in free enterprise, allowing the people to keep their money that they earn, and

government providing “only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or

private organizations.” (gop.com, “Republican Principles”). The Republican Party adopted the

lassiez faire feeling towards government,”the best government is that which governs least” and

that government should return power to the states (gop.com, “From the Beginning”).

Republicans are sometimes said to cater to the richer parts of the nation.The Republican

Coalition was usually more difficult to define, made up mostly as non-poor whites and those

from small towns the stereotype has been changing over the last thirty or so years. As of 2006,

approximately 40% of Republicans are in the top third of income distribution in the nation. The

South is another large supporter with a third of all Southern whites identified as Republicans.

Religion also plays a part in it with 42% claiming to attend church and one in 6 identifying

themselves as of the Christian faith (Maisel, 80-83).

The first African-Americans to enter Congress, in 1869, were Republican. It

would be another 66 years before the first African-American Democrat would be elected.

However, come January, Barack Obama will become the first African American President, and
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he is a Democrat. He won over much of the black community, garnering votes even from

predominant leaders on the Republican side, including former Secretary of State, Colin Powell,

who served under current President George W. Bush. Party affiliation didn’t seem to be a major

issue for many people when choosing who to vote for this election (www.cnn.com). Obama

stands by the Democratic Party’s belief of individual’s rights for issues like abortion. He’s

pledged to try and change the current tax cuts which benefit the wealthier people and help the

lower classes as well as provide better health care for the nation. He wants to pull some of the

troops out of Iraq opposing wars we don’t need to be in. He also wants to expand opportunities

for immigrants, our nation was founded and built by immigrants and now we try to keep them

out of the country(Halperin, 282-287). Obama is the first since FDR to be elected to office facing

challenges like the failing economy and the country in the shape it is today. Obama, has been

able to evoke a sense of hope to the American people like FDR did amidst the Great Depression,

however, “Hope can fuel a campaign, but Presidents are measured by results.” (Tumulty, 27-29).

It’s been a big year for females in politics also. Hilary Clinton, Democrat, and Sarah

Palin, Republican, both created a big stir this election when Clinton became a frontrunner for the

Democratic nomination for President and Palin was elected as the Republican’s Vice President

running mate. Neither won the elections, however, it was a big step towards women’s equalities.

Many other countries already have women leading their countries, yet America, the country in

which we’re all supposed to have equal rights, has always been run by older white men. Clinton,

sometimes said to be “power-hungry”, is ambitious and driven like many of the past presidents

and political leaders.(Halperin, 223-227). She, like Obama and as Democrats in the past have,

wanted to stop current tax plans benefitting the wealthy and help the lower classes. She pushed

for better conditions saying that “It is unacceptable that Americans working full-time are living

in poverty…” She supports the individual’s rights on issues such as abortion and gay marriages.
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She also supports making it easier for immigrants to enter the country. Removal from the War in

Iraq was also a big thing she pushed for as well as increased health care for Americans.

(Halperin, 204-208). Palin, chosen by John McCain would have become the first female VP if

they had won the election. She fought against abortions and non-traditional marriages and

wanted to deny benefits to same-sex couples as many Republicans do. Said that everyone

benefits when the government takes less following the more hands off approach (ontheissues.org,

“Sarah Palin”). Palin has her eye on the presidency, saying that if the door is open she’ll “plow

through” for the 2012 Presidential elections (Von Drehle).

The country has come a long way from the day of British control in America. The history

of political parties goes as far back in history as that control. We have gone to great lengths to

ensure equality to all in most aspects of life and bring the country together. Political parties,

however, will most likely forever remain as a divider of our great nation. If for no other reason

than people feeling a need to belong and “party identification reflects an awareness that one

belongs to a social group.” (Green, Palmquist and Schickler, 204).

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Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. New York: Bantam Dell, 2004.

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Von Drehle, David. "The Moment." Time 24 November 2008: 11.

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