Democratic Party, U.S.

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. It is known as a more liberal, left-of-center party, as opposed to the Republican Party. The Democratic Party, which claims Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson as its founders, is the oldest continuous political party in the United States and in the world. This is remarkable because many countries in the world surpass the United States in age. The origins of the Democratic Party can be traced to the conflicts between Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Both responded to their respective constituencies to a sizable extent. Jefferson advocated for rural, agrarian interests, espousing a political philosophy that was more distrustful of executive and judicial power ...