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The history of the Democratic Party in the United States goes back to the time of our first Presidents. Thomas Jefferson, in the late 1700's, started the first political party with the conviction that the federal government was assuming too much power over domestic policy and should be stopped. His party became known as the "Democratic" party when candidate Andrew Jackson became President in 1828. Jackson was known as a man of the people. He took the Democratic party that Jefferson and his elite collegues had formed and turned it over to the citizens of the United States. The party held its first convention in 1832 to re-elect Jackson to a second term.
The Democratic National Convention began the Democratic National Committee in 1848. It has become the longest running political organization in the world. The Convention gave the committee the job of promoting the party causes between the conventions and also preparing for each of the next conventions.
On the issue of slavery at the 1860 Democratic Convention, Democrats held that each State had the right to prohibit or recognize slavery. This position caused Northern Democrats to withdraw from the convention. The Southern Democrats and the Northern Democrats each nominated their own separate candidates for President that year. The election was ultimately lost to Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.
The Democratic Party has met every four years since 1832 to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate. From 1832 to 1968, sixteen Democratic candidates have become President including James Polk, James Buchanan, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy.
The symbol of the donkey has become known as the Democratic mascot. Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist, used the donkey first in an 1870 editorial cartoon to represent the an anti-war faction that he did not agree with. Nast continued using it to portray Democratic press and reporters.
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