If we have the strongest democracy in the world in America now, it is because of its glorious inmates who have made it so over a period of about three centuries, experimenting with the past and modeling on the present. It has passed through many ordeals before shaping into the present state. The evolution of the present party system proves how great the people of the country of America are in preserving their hard-earned, age-old bipartite system.
Democratic Party of US owes its origin to Andrew Jackson’s election as its President in the year 1828.
Whig Party came into subsequent existence when the then National Republic Party merged itself with the opposition party.
The issue of slavery split the Democratic Party in 1860 to give birth to Republican Party with Abraham Lincoln as its leader heading the country.
Except in 1928, Democratic Party won US Presidential Election from 1876 to 1948, only AI Smith breaking the continuity.
Democrats dominated the Southern States of US traditionally at the cost of the Republicans who were fighting for their presence all through.
The Republican Party was dominant in the Midwest and New England.
Centripetal developments leading to major political realignments in the country strengthened The Democratic Party to rule the US Presidential Kingdom for seven presidential elections out of nine. This was a major step towards consolidation and creation of a bipartite system as existent centrifugal forces like labor unions, liberals, Catholics, Southern Whites and African Americans joined hands under the democratic party banner led by President Roosevelt in 1932.
President Roosevelt’s New Deal programmes to counter Deep Depression saw an uprising against the policy by politicians of the likes of long, Sinclair and Coughlin and by some reputed journalists whose populist criticism found a huge number of takers belonging to middle class population who were the hardest hit.
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Watergate Scandal brought into prominence Jimmy Carter who subsequently became the President of US in 1976 as a Democrat.
It is an irony of fate that the South turned Republican in 1976 having come solidly behind the Democrats over a long period of time.
