Democratic Party (United States)

== History ==
{{main|History of the Democratic Party (United States)}}[[File:Political Parties Derivation in the United States.svg|thumb|400px|Political parties' derivation in the United States. A dotted line denotes an unofficial connection.|left]]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 [[Federalist Party|Federalists]] in 1792.<ref name="US Congress-1991">The party has claimed a founding date of 1792 as noted in S.2047 which passed in the United States Senate in 1991. {{citation|title= S.2047 – A bill to establish a commission to commemorate the bicentennial of the establishment of the Democratic Party of the United States.|author= 102nd Congress|url= https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/2047/text?r=90&s=1|year= 1991|access-date= February 20, 2021|archive-date= February 22, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013940/https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/2047/text?r=90&s=1|url-status= live}} "[I]n 1992, the Democratic Party of the United States will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its establishment on May 13, 1792."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Edward |title=A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign |publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=9780743293167 |pages=21 |quote=The divisions between Adams and Jefferson were exasperated by the more extreme views expressed by some of their partisans, particularly the High Federalists led by Hamilton on what was becoming known as the political right, and the democratic wing of the Republican Party on the left, associated with New York Governor George Clinton and Pennsylvania legislator Albert Gallatin, among others. |author-link=Edward J. Larson}}</ref> That party died out before the modern Democratic Party was organized;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ericson|first=David F.|title=The Evolution of the Democratic Party|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=70|issue=1|year=1964|pages=22–43}}</ref> the Jeffersonian party also inspired the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] and modern Republicans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Banning|first=Lance|title=The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1978|page=208}}</ref> Historians argue that the modern Democratic Party was first organized in the late 1820s with the election of [[Andrew Jackson]],<ref name="Kazin-2022">Michael Kazin, ''What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party'' (2022) pp 5, 12.</ref> making it the world's oldest active political party.<ref name="Janda-2010" /> It was predominately built by [[Martin Van Buren]], who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson of Tennessee.<ref name="Lucas-2014" /><ref name="Kazin-2022" />

Since the nomination of [[William Jennings Bryan]] in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] on economic issues. Democrats have been more liberal on civil rights since 1948, although conservative factions within the Democratic Party that opposed them persisted in the South until the 1960s. On foreign policy, both parties have changed positions several times.<ref>Arthur Paulson, ''Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century'' (2000) pp. 46–72.</ref>

=== Background ===
[[File:Andrew jackson head.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Andrew Jackson]] was the seventh president (1829–1837) and the first Democratic president.]]
The Democratic Party evolved from the [[Jeffersonian Republican]] or [[Democratic-Republican Party]] organized by Jefferson and Madison in opposition to the Federalist Party.<ref>{{cite book|last=Berman|first=Jay|title=The Democratic Party: Evolution and America's Longing for a Lasting Majority|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2012|page=8}}</ref> The Democratic-Republican Party favored [[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]]; a weak [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]; [[states' rights]]; agrarian interests (especially Southern planters); and strict adherence to the Constitution. The party opposed a national bank and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]].<ref>James Roger Sharp, ''American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis'' (1993).</ref> After the [[War of 1812]], the Federalists virtually disappeared and the only national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans, which was prone to splinter along regional lines.<ref>{{cite book|title=The American Republic Since 1877, Student Edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|year=2006|page=193}}</ref> The era of one-party rule in the United States, known as the [[Era of Good Feelings]], lasted from 1816 until 1828, when Andrew Jackson became president. Jackson and Martin Van Buren worked with allies in each state to form a new Democratic Party on a national basis. In the 1830s, the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] coalesced into the main rival to the Democrats.

Before 1860, the Democratic Party supported [[Unitary executive theory|expansive presidential power]],<ref name="Holt-1992" /> [[Slave Power|the interests]] of [[Slave states and free states|slave states]],<ref name="Bates-2015" /> [[agrarianism]],<ref name="EB-2023" /> and [[expansionism]],<ref name="EB-2023" /> while opposing [[Bank War|a national bank]] and high [[tariff]]s.<ref name="EB-2023" />

=== 19th century ===
{{Further|Second Party System|Third Party System}}
[[File:Martin Van Buren by Mathew Brady c1855-58.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Martin Van Buren]] was the eighth president of the United States (1837–1841) and the second Democratic president.]]
The [[Democratic-Republican Party]] split over the choice of a successor to President [[James Monroe]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Banning|first=Lance|title=The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1978|page=253}}</ref> The faction that supported many of the old [[Jeffersonian democracy|Jeffersonian principles]], led by Andrew Jackson and [[Martin Van Buren]], became the modern Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Traub |first1=James |title=The Ugly Election That Birthed Modern American Politics |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/america-presidential-elections-1824-corrupt-bargain/ |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=July 6, 2018 |archive-date=July 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707010137/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/america-presidential-elections-1824-corrupt-bargain/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Historian [[Mary Beth Norton]] explains the transformation in 1828: {{blockquote|Jacksonians believed the people's will had finally prevailed. Through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president. The Democrats became the nation's first well-organized national party ... and tight party organization became the hallmark of nineteenth-century American politics.<ref>Mary Beth Norton et al., ''A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) p. 287.</ref>|sign=|source=}}

[[File:Polk crop.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[James K. Polk]] was the 11th president of the United States (1845–1849). He significantly extended the territory of the United States.]]
Behind the platforms issued by state and national parties stood a widely shared political outlook that characterized the Democrats: {{blockquote|The Democrats represented a wide range of views but shared a fundamental commitment to the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society. They viewed the central government as the enemy of individual liberty. The [[Corrupt bargain#Election of 1824|1824 "corrupt bargain"]] had strengthened their suspicion of Washington politics. ... Jacksonians feared the concentration of economic and political power. They believed that government intervention in the economy benefited special-interest groups and created corporate monopolies that favored the rich. They sought to restore the independence of the individual—the artisan and the ordinary farmer—by ending federal support of banks and corporations and restricting the use of paper currency, which they distrusted. Their definition of the proper role of government tended to be negative, and Jackson's political power was largely expressed in negative acts. He exercised the veto more than all previous presidents combined. ... Nor did Jackson share reformers' humanitarian concerns. He had no sympathy for American Indians, initiating the removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears.<ref>Mary Beth Norton et al., ''A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877'' (2007) pp. 287–288.</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Opposing factions led by [[Henry Clay]] helped form the Whig Party. The Democratic Party had a small yet decisive advantage over the Whigs until the 1850s when the Whigs fell apart over the issue of slavery. In 1854, angry with the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], anti-slavery Democrats left the party and joined Northern Whigs to form the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]].<ref>Galbraith Schlisinger, ''Of the People: The 200 Year History of the Democratic Party'' (1992) ch. 1–3.</ref><ref>Robert Allen Rutland, ''The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton'' (U. of Missouri Press, 1995) ch. 1–4.</ref>

[[File:Stephen A Douglas - headshot.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Stephen A. Douglas]] was a United States senator for Illinois.]]
The Democrats split over slavery, with Northern and Southern tickets in the [[1860 United States presidential election|election of 1860]], in which the Republican Party gained ascendancy.<ref>Jean H. Baker, ''Affairs of Party: Political Culture of Northern Democrats in the Mid-nineteenth Century'' (1983)</ref> The radical pro-slavery [[Fire-Eaters]] led walkouts at the two conventions when the delegates would not adopt a resolution supporting the extension of slavery into territories even if the voters of those territories did not want it. These [[1860 United States presidential election#Constitutional (Southern) Democratic|Southern Democrats]] nominated the pro-slavery incumbent vice president, [[John C. Breckinridge]] of Kentucky, for president and General [[Joseph Lane]], of Oregon, for vice president. The [[1860 United States presidential election#National (Northern) Democratic|Northern Democrats]] nominated Senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] of Illinois for president and former Georgia Governor [[Herschel Vespasian Johnson|Herschel V. Johnson]] for vice president. This fracturing of the Democrats led to a Republican victory and [[Abraham Lincoln]] was elected the 16th president of the United States.<ref name="auto">David M. Potter. ''The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861'' (1976). ch. 16.</ref>

As the [[American Civil War]] broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into [[War Democrats]] and [[Copperheads (politics)|Peace Democrats]]. The [[Confederate States of America]] deliberately avoided organized political parties. Most War Democrats rallied to Republican President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]] in the [[1864 United States presidential election|election of 1864]], which featured [[Andrew Johnson]] on the Union ticket to attract fellow Democrats. Johnson replaced Lincoln in 1865, but he stayed independent of both parties.<ref>Mark E. Neely. ''Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War'' (2017).</ref>

The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After [[Redeemers]] ended Reconstruction in the 1870s and following the often extremely violent [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchisement]] of African Americans led by such [[White supremacy#Academic use of the term|white supremacist]] Democratic politicians as [[Benjamin Tillman]] of [[South Carolina]] in the 1880s and 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "[[Solid South]]". Although Republicans won all but two presidential elections, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business [[Bourbon Democrat]]s led by [[Samuel J. Tilden]] and [[Grover Cleveland]], who represented mercantile, banking, and railroad interests; opposed [[imperialism]] and overseas expansion; fought for the [[gold standard]]; opposed [[bimetallism]]; and crusaded against corruption, high taxes and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in [[1884 United States presidential election|1884]] and [[1892 United States presidential election|1892]].<ref>Rutland, ''The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton'' (1995) ch. 5–6.</ref>

=== 20th century ===
{{Further|Fourth Party System|Fifth Party System|Sixth Party System}}

==== Early 20th century ====
[[File:Breckinridgelong2.jpg|thumb|Leaders of the Democratic Party during the first half of the 20th century on in 1913: William Jennings Bryan, [[Josephus Daniels]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], [[Breckinridge Long]], [[William Phillips (diplomat)|William Phillips]], and Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
Agrarian Democrats demanding [[free silver]], drawing on Populist ideas, overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated [[William Jennings Bryan]] for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican [[William McKinley]].<ref>Robert W. Cherny, ''A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan'' (1994)</ref>

The Democrats took control of the House in 1910, and [[Woodrow Wilson]] won election as president in 1912 (when the Republicans split) and 1916. Wilson effectively led Congress to put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust, which had dominated politics for 40 years, with new progressive laws. He failed to secure Senate passage of the [[Versailles Treaty]] (ending the war with Germany and joining the League of Nations).<ref>H.W. Brands, ''Woodrow Wilson'' (2003).</ref> The weak party was deeply divided by issues such as the KKK and prohibition in the 1920s. However, it did organize new ethnic voters in Northern cities.<ref>Douglas B. Craig, ''After Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, 1920–1934'' (1993)</ref>

After [[World War I]] ended and continuing through the [[Great Depression]], the Democratic and Republican Parties both largely believed in [[American exceptionalism]] over European monarchies and [[state socialism]] that existed elsewhere in the world.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Kenneth C. |title=Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-06-008381-6 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=321, 341 |author-link=Kenneth C. Davis}}</ref>

==== 1930s–1960s and the rise of the New Deal coalition ====
[[File:RooseveltTruman1944poster.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, the 32nd and 33rd presidents of the United States (1933–1945; 1945–1953), featured on a campaign poster for the [[1944 United States presidential election|1944 presidential election]]; note the rooster logo of the Democratic Party (see [[#Name_and_symbols|Names and Symbols]] below)]]
The [[Great Depression]] in 1929 that began under Republican President [[Herbert Hoover]] and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government as the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1930 until 1994, the Senate for 44 of 48 years from 1930, and won most presidential elections until 1968. [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], elected to the presidency in 1932, came forth with federal government programs called the [[New Deal]]. New Deal liberalism meant the regulation of business (especially finance and banking) and the promotion of labor unions as well as federal spending to aid the unemployed, help distressed farmers and undertake large-scale public works projects. It marked the start of the American welfare state.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ellen Russell|title=New Deal Banking Reforms and Keynesian Welfare State Capitalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|pages=3–4|isbn=9781135910655|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=October 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002180941/https://books.google.com/books?id=qzOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> The opponents, who stressed opposition to unions, support for business and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives".<ref>Rutland, ''The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton'' (1995) ch. 7.</ref>

Until the 1980s, the Democratic Party was a coalition of two parties divided by the Mason–Dixon line: liberal Democrats in the North and culturally conservative voters in the South, who though benefitting from many of the New Deal public works projects, opposed increasing [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] initiatives advocated by northeastern liberals. The polarization grew stronger after Roosevelt died. Southern Democrats formed a key part of the bipartisan [[conservative coalition]] in an alliance with most of the Midwestern Republicans. The economically activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced [[Liberalism in the United States|American liberalism]], shaped much of the party's economic agenda after 1932.<ref>David M. Kennedy, ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945'' (2001).</ref> From the 1930s to the mid-1960s, the liberal [[New Deal coalition]] usually controlled the presidency while the conservative coalition usually controlled Congress.<ref>Paul Finkelman and Peter Wallenstein, eds. ''The Encyclopedia Of American Political History'' (CQ Press, 2001) pp. 124–126.</ref>

==== 1960s–1980s and the collapse of the New Deal coalition ====
{{see also|Civil Rights Movement}}
Issues facing parties and the United States after World War II included the [[Cold War]] and the [[civil rights movement]]. Republicans attracted conservatives and, after the 1960s, white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their use of the [[Southern strategy]] and resistance to New Deal and [[Great Society]] liberalism. Until the 1950s, African Americans had traditionally supported the Republican Party because of its anti-slavery civil rights policies. Following the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], the Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.<ref name="Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004">{{cite journal|last1=Bullock|first1=Charles S.|last2=Hoffman|first2=Donna R.|last3=Gaddie|first3=Ronald Keith|date=2006|title=Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=87|issue=3|pages=494–518|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00393.x|issn=0038-4941|quote=The events of 1964 laid open the divisions between the South and national Democrats and elicited distinctly different voter behavior in the two regions. The agitation for civil rights by southern blacks continued white violence toward the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson's aggressive leadership all facilitated passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. ... In the South, 1964 should be associated with GOP growth while in the Northeast this election contributed to the eradication of Republicans.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Harold W.|date=1988|title=Southern Partisan Changes: Dealignment, Realignment or Both?|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=50|issue=1|pages=64–88|doi=10.2307/2131041|issn=0022-3816|quote=Events surrounding the presidential election of 1964 marked a watershed in terms of the parties and the South (Pomper, 1972). The Solid South was built around the identification of the Democratic party with the cause of white supremacy. Events before 1964 gave white southerners pause about the linkage between the Democratic Party and white supremacy, but the 1964 election, passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 altered in the minds of most the positions of the national parties on racial issues.|jstor=2131041|s2cid=154860857}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|title=The Rise of Southern Republicans |first1= Earl|last1= Black|first2= Merle |last2= Black|date=September 30, 2003 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674012486 |access-date=June 9, 2018|quote=When the Republican party nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater—one of the few senators who had opposed the Civil Rights Act—as their presidential candidate in 1964, the party attracted many southern whites but permanently alienated African-American voters. Beginning with the Goldwater-versus-Johnson campaign more southern whites voted Republican than Democratic, a pattern that has recurred in every subsequent presidential election. ... Before the 1964 presidential election the Republican party had not carried any Deep South state for eighty-eight years. Yet shortly after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, hundreds of Deep South counties gave Barry Goldwater landslide majorities.|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135934/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2003|title=Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=97|issue=2|pages=245–60|doi=10.1017/S0003055403000650|s2cid=12885628|issn=1537-5943|quote=By 2000, however, the New Deal party alignment no longer captured patterns of partisan voting. In the intervening 40 years, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had triggered an increasingly race-driven distinction between the parties. ... Goldwater won the electoral votes of five states of the Deep South in 1964, four of the states that had voted Democratic for 84 years (Califano 1991, 55). He forged a new identification of the Republican party with racial conservatism, reversing a century-long association of the GOP with racial liberalism. This, in turn, opened the door for Nixon's "Southern strategy" and the Reagan victories of the eighties.}}</ref> Studies show that Southern whites, which were a core constituency in the Democratic Party, shifted to the Republican Party due to [[White backlash|racial backlash]] and [[social conservatism]].<ref name="Issue Evolution">{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|title=Issue Evolution|date=September 6, 1990|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691023311|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=May 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516081536/https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Valentino|first1=Nicholas A.|last2=Sears|first2=David O.|author-link2=David O. Sears|year=2005|title=Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South|journal=American Journal of Political Science|volume=49|issue=3|pages=672–88|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x|issn=0092-5853|author-link1=Nicholas Valentino}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Ilyana|last1=Kuziemko|first2=Ebonya|last2=Washington|title=Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate|journal=American Economic Review|year=2018|volume=108|issue=10|pages=2830–2867|doi=10.1257/aer.20161413|issn=0002-8282|doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| total_width   = 300
| caption_align = center
| image1        = John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait.jpg
| caption1      = [[John F. Kennedy]], the 35th president (1961–1963)
| image2        = 37 Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg
| caption2      = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], the 36th president (1963–1969)
}}
The election of President [[John F. Kennedy]] from Massachusetts in 1960 partially reflected this shift. In the campaign, Kennedy attracted a new generation of younger voters. In his agenda dubbed the [[New Frontier]], Kennedy introduced a host of social programs and public works projects, along with enhanced support of the [[NASA|space program]], proposing a crewed spacecraft [[Apollo 11|trip to the moon]] by the end of the decade. He pushed for civil rights initiatives and proposed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], but with his [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] in November 1963, he was not able to see its passage.<ref>James T. Patterson, ''Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974'' (1997).</ref>

Kennedy's successor [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was able to persuade the largely conservative Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with a more progressive Congress in 1965 passed much of the [[Great Society]], including [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]], which consisted of an array of social programs designed to help the poor, sick, and elderly. Kennedy and Johnson's advocacy of civil rights further solidified black support for the Democrats but had the effect of alienating Southern whites who would eventually gravitate toward the Republican Party, particularly after the election of [[Ronald Reagan]] to the presidency in 1980. Many conservative [[Southern Democrats]] defected to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], beginning with the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the general leftward shift of the party.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2008|title=The Transformation of the Republican and Democratic Party Coalitions in the U.S.|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=6|issue=3|pages=433–450|doi=10.1017/S1537592708081218|s2cid=145321253|issn=1541-0986|quote=1964 was the last presidential election in which the Democrats earned more than 50 percent of the white vote in the United States.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|title=The Rise of Southern Republicans|last1=Black|first1=Earl|last2=Black|first2=Merle|date=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135934/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|archive-date=June 12, 2018|access-date=June 9, 2018|quote=When the Republican party nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater—one of the few northern senators who had opposed the Civil Rights Act—as their presidential candidate in 1964, the party attracted many racist southern whites but permanently alienated African-American voters. Beginning with the Goldwater-versus-Johnson campaign more southern whites voted Republican than Democratic, a pattern that has recurred in every subsequent presidential election. ... Before the 1964 presidential election the Republican party had not carried any Deep South state for eighty-eight years. Yet shortly after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, hundreds of Deep South counties gave Barry Goldwater landslide majorities.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2003|title=Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=97|issue=2|pages=245–260|doi=10.1017/S0003055403000650|s2cid=12885628|issn=1537-5943|quote=By 2000, however, the New Deal party alignment no longer captured patterns of partisan voting. In the intervening 40 years, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had triggered an increasingly race-driven distinction between the parties. ... Goldwater won the electoral votes of five states of the Deep South in 1964, four of them states that had voted Democratic for 84 years (Califano 1991, 55). He forged a new identification of the Republican party with racial conservatism, reversing a century-long association of the GOP with racial liberalism. This in turn opened the door for Nixon's "Southern strategy" and the Reagan victories of the eighties.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Valentino|first1=Nicholas A.|last2=Sears|first2=David O.|author-link2=David O. Sears|year=2005|title=Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South|journal=American Journal of Political Science|volume=49|issue=3|pages=672–688|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x|issn=0092-5853|author-link1=Nicholas Valentino}}</ref>

The United States' involvement in the [[Vietnam War]] in the 1960s was another divisive issue that further fractured the fault lines of the Democrats' coalition. After the [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]] in 1964, President Johnson committed a large contingency of combat troops to Vietnam, but the escalation failed to drive the [[Viet Cong]] from South Vietnam, resulting in an increasing [[Quagmire theory|quagmire]], which by 1968 had become the subject of widespread anti-war protests in the United States and elsewhere. With increasing casualties and nightly news reports bringing home troubling images from Vietnam, the costly military engagement became increasingly unpopular, alienating many of the kinds of young voters that the Democrats had attracted in the early 1960s. The protests that year along with assassinations of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and Democratic presidential candidate Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] (younger brother of John F. Kennedy) climaxed in turbulence at the hotly-contested [[1968 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] that summer in Chicago (which amongst the ensuing turmoil inside and outside of the convention hall nominated Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]]) in a series of events that proved to mark a significant turning point in the decline of the Democratic Party's broad coalition.<ref>Patterson, ''Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974'' (1997).</ref>

Republican presidential nominee [[Richard Nixon]] was able to capitalize on the confusion of the Democrats that year, and won the 1968 election to become the 37th president. He won re-election in a [[1972 United States presidential election|landslide]] in 1972 against Democratic nominee [[George McGovern]], who like Robert F. Kennedy, reached out to the younger anti-war and counterculture voters, but unlike Kennedy, was not able to appeal to the party's more traditional white working-class constituencies. During Nixon's second term, his presidency was rocked by the [[Watergate]] scandal, which forced him to resign in 1974. He was succeeded by vice president [[Gerald Ford]], who served a brief tenure.

Watergate offered the Democrats an opportunity to recoup, and their nominee [[Jimmy Carter]] won the 1976 presidential election. With the initial support of [[evangelical]] Christian voters in the South, Carter was temporarily able to reunite the disparate factions within the party, but inflation and the [[Iran Hostage Crisis]] of 1979–1980 took their toll, resulting in a [[1980 United States presidential election|landslide]] victory for Republican presidential nominee [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980, which shifted the political landscape in favor of the Republicans for years to come. The influx of conservative Democrats into the Republican Party is often cited as a reason for the Republican Party's shift further to the right during the late 20th century as well as the shift of its base from the Northeast and Midwest to the South.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smyth |first1=David J. |last2=Taylor |first2=Susan Washburn |date=1992 |title=Why Do the Republicans Win the White House More Often than the Democrats? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550992 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=481–491 |jstor=27550992 |issn=0360-4918 |access-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119034446/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550992 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jr |first=R. W. Apple |date=July 12, 1992 |title=Donkey's Years; Is There Room At the Top For Democrats? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/weekinreview/donkey-s-years-is-there-room-at-the-top-for-democrats.html |access-date=January 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119034446/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/weekinreview/donkey-s-years-is-there-room-at-the-top-for-democrats.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== 1990s and Third Way centrism ====
[[File:Bill Clinton.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Bill Clinton]], the 42nd president (1993–2001)]]
With the ascendancy of the Republicans under Ronald Reagan, the Democrats searched for ways to respond yet were unable to succeed by running traditional candidates, such as former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee [[Walter Mondale]] and Massachusetts Governor [[Michael Dukakis]], who lost to Reagan and [[George H.W. Bush]] in the [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]] and [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 presidential elections]], respectively. Many Democrats attached their hopes to the future star of [[Gary Hart]], who had challenged Mondale in the 1984 primaries running on a theme of "New Ideas"; and in the subsequent 1988 primaries became the de facto front-runner and virtual "shoo-in" for the Democratic presidential nomination before a sex scandal ended his campaign. The party nevertheless began to seek out a younger generation of leaders, who like Hart had been inspired by the pragmatic idealism of John F. Kennedy.<ref>James T. Patterson, ''Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore'' (2011).</ref>

Arkansas governor [[Bill Clinton]] was one such figure, who was [[1992 United States presidential election|elected]] president in 1992 as the Democratic nominee. The [[Democratic Leadership Council]] was a campaign organization connected to Clinton that advocated a [[Political realignment|realignment]] and [[Triangulation (politics)|triangulation]] under the re-branded "[[New Democrats (United States)|New Democrat]]" label.<ref name="Geismer-2019">{{Cite web |last=Geismer |first=Lily |date=June 11, 2019 |title=Democrats and neoliberalism |url=https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2019/6/11/18660240/democrats-neoliberalism |access-date=November 5, 2022 |website=Vox |language=en |quote=The version of neoliberalism embedded in these policies understood a distinct role for government to stimulate market-oriented solutions to address social ills such as unemployment and poverty. It thereby aimed not to eradicate the welfare state but rather to reformulate it. It extended the importance of poverty alleviation, which had long served as a benchmark of liberal policy, and had many similarities with the basic ideas of the war on poverty. |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105045200/https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2019/6/11/18660240/democrats-neoliberalism |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hale-1995">{{Cite journal |last=Hale |first=Jon F. |date=1995 |title=The Making of the New Democrats |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2152360 |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=207–232 |doi=10.2307/2152360 |jstor=2152360 |issn=0032-3195 |access-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212194604/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2152360 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Wills-1997">{{Cite news |last=Wills |first=Garry |date=January 19, 1997 |title=The Clinton Principle |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/magazine/the-clinton-principle.html |access-date=August 24, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824024151/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/magazine/the-clinton-principle.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The party adopted a synthesis of [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] [[economic policies]] with [[cultural liberalism]], with the voter base after Reagan having shifted considerably to the [[Right (politics)|right]].<ref name="Geismer-2019" /> In an effort to appeal both to liberals and to fiscal conservatives, Democrats began to advocate for a [[balanced budget]] and [[market economy]] tempered by [[Economic interventionism|government intervention]] ([[mixed economy]]), along with a continued emphasis on [[social justice]] and [[affirmative action]]. The economic policy adopted by the Democratic Party, including the former [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]], has been referred to as "[[Third Way]]".

The Democrats lost control of Congress in the [[Republican Revolution|election of 1994]] to the Republican Party. Re-elected in 1996, Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to two terms.<ref>Patterson. ''Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore'' (2011).</ref> Al Gore won the [[List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote|popular vote]], but after a controversial election dispute over a Florida recount settled by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] (which [[Bush v. Gore|ruled 5–4 in favor of Bush]]) he lost the [[2000 United States Presidential Election]] to Republican opponent [[George W. Bush]] in the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]].<ref name="Cornell-BushvGore">{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html|title=George W. Bush, et al., Petitioners v. Albert Gore, Jr., et al., 531 U.S. 98 (2000)|access-date=June 26, 2010|author=Supreme Court of the US|date=December 12, 2000|publisher=[[Cornell Law School]]|archive-date=October 15, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015060335/https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
==== 2000s ====
{{multiple image
| total_width   = 300
| caption_align = center
| image1        = President Barack Obama.jpg
| caption1      = [[Barack Obama]], the 44th president (2009–2017)
| image2        = Joe Biden presidential portrait.jpg
| caption2      = [[Joe Biden]], the 46th president (2021–present)
}}
In the wake of the 2001 [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks]] on the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] and [[the Pentagon]] as well as the growing concern over [[global warming]], some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included combating [[terrorism]] while preserving human rights, expanding access to health care, [[labor rights]], and environmental protection. Democrats regained majority control of both the House and the Senate in the [[United States general elections, 2006|2006 elections]]. [[Barack Obama]] won the Democratic Party's nomination and was elected as the first African American president in 2008. Under the Obama presidency, the party moved forward reforms including an [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009|economic stimulus]] package, the [[Dodd-Frank Act|Dodd–Frank]] financial reform act, and the [[Affordable Care Act]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lerer|first1=Lisa|title=No Congress Since 1960s Has Impact on Public as 111th|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-12-22/no-congress-since-1960s-makes-most-laws-for-americans-as-111th|access-date=April 20, 2016|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=December 22, 2010|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329224729/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-12-22/no-congress-since-1960s-makes-most-laws-for-americans-as-111th|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2010s ====
In the [[2010 United States elections|2010 midterm elections]], the Democratic Party lost control of the House and lost its majority in state legislatures and state governorships. In the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 elections]], President Obama was re-elected, but the party remained in the minority in the House of Representatives and lost control of the Senate in the [[2014 United States elections|2014 midterm elections]]. After the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election]] of [[Donald Trump]], who lost the [[List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote|popular vote]], the Democratic Party transitioned into the role of an opposition party and held neither the presidency nor Congress for two years. However, the Democratic Party won back a majority in the House in the [[2018 United States House of Representatives elections|2018 midterm elections]] under the leadership of [[Nancy Pelosi]].

Democrats were extremely critical of President Trump, particularly his policies on immigration, healthcare, and abortion, as well as his response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news|last=York|first=David Smith Molly Redden in New|date=April 1, 2016|title=Donald Trump's abortion remarks provoke biggest crisis of his campaign|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/31/donald-trump-abortion-remarks-biggest-campaign-crisis |access-date=June 29, 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729191734/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/31/donald-trump-abortion-remarks-biggest-campaign-crisis|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=McCormick|first=Stephanie Armour and John|date=March 14, 2020|title=Democrats Sharpen Criticism of Trump's Health-Care Policy in Coronavirus Pandemic|language=en-US|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-sharpen-criticism-of-trumps-health-care-policy-in-coronavirus-pandemic-11584195089 |access-date=June 29, 2020|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729182405/https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-sharpen-criticism-of-trumps-health-care-policy-in-coronavirus-pandemic-11584195089|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Trump WHO decision draws criticism from Democrats in US Congress|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/trump-decision-draws-criticism-democrats-congress-200415184644345.html |access-date=June 29, 2020|website=Al Jazeera |archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729193902/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/trump-decision-draws-criticism-democrats-congress-200415184644345.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Before the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|pandemic]], Democrats in the House of Representatives [[First impeachment of Donald Trump|impeached Trump for the first time]], although Trump was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ewing |first1=Philip |date=February 5, 2020 |title='Not Guilty': Trump Acquitted On 2 Articles Of Impeachment As Historic Trial Closes |language=en |newspaper=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/801429948/not-guilty-trump-acquitted-on-2-articles-of-impeachment-as-historic-trial-closes |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206152432/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/801429948/not-guilty-trump-acquitted-on-2-articles-of-impeachment-as-historic-trial-closes |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== 2020s ====
[[File:Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote 2020.svg|thumb|300px|[[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]] results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote]]In November 2020, Democrat [[Joe Biden]] won the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 7, 2020 |title=Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal' |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9 |access-date=November 7, 2020 |website=AP NEWS |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117190428/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9 |url-status=live }}</ref> He began his term with extremely narrow Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Jonathan |last2=Fausset |first2=Richard |last3=Epstein |first3=Reid J. |date=January 6, 2021 |title=Georgia Highlights: Democrats Win the Senate as Ossoff Defeats Perdue |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107140603/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=U.S. House Election Results |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |date=November 3, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-house.html |access-date=February 8, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220074106/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-house.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Inflation Reduction Act of 2022]] was negotiated by Biden, Majority Leader [[Chuck Schumer]], [[Joe Manchin]], [[Kyrsten Sinema]] and other Democrats and is the largest allocation of funds for [[Climate change mitigation|addressing climate change]] in the history of the United States to date.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Joey Garrison and Dylan |title=Sen. Kyrsten Sinema backs Inflation Reduction Act, giving Biden the votes for Senate passage |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/04/krysten-sinema-inflation-reduction-act-senator-democrats-vote/10234906002/ |access-date=August 24, 2022 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824023439/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/04/krysten-sinema-inflation-reduction-act-senator-democrats-vote/10234906002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=What The Climate Package Means For A Warming Planet : Consider This from NPR |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/08/11/1117017336/what-the-climate-package-means-for-a-warming-planet |access-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824100551/https://www.npr.org/2022/08/11/1117017336/what-the-climate-package-means-for-a-warming-planet |url-status=live }}</ref> Biden also signed a major [[Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act|infrastructure bill]] with bipartisan support, the [[Bipartisan Safer Communities Act|first federal gun safety legislation in 28 years]], and appointed the most [[Federal judiciary of the United States|federal judges]] during the first two years of any presidency since [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gramlich |first=John |title=Biden has appointed more federal judges than any president since JFK at this point in his tenure |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/08/09/biden-has-appointed-more-federal-judges-than-any-president-since-jfk-at-this-point-in-his-tenure/ |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404145743/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/08/09/biden-has-appointed-more-federal-judges-than-any-president-since-jfk-at-this-point-in-his-tenure/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  

The 2022 [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] was politically and economically opposed by the Biden Administration, who promptly began an increased arming of Ukraine, with full support from Congressional Democrats and an overwhelming majority of Republicans.<ref name="against_2022_05_19_thehill">[https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3495060-here-are-the-11-republican-senators-who-voted-against-the-ukraine-aid-bill/ "Here are the 11 GOP senators who voted against the Ukraine aid bill,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815033416/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3495060-here-are-the-11-republican-senators-who-voted-against-the-ukraine-aid-bill/ |date=August 15, 2023 }} May 19, 2022, ''[[The Hill (magazine)]]'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="loud_2023_05_19_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/ukraine-republican-skeptics.html "A Loud Republican Minority Opposes More Ukraine Military Aid,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704132352/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/ukraine-republican-skeptics.html |date=July 4, 2023 }} May 19, 2023, ''[[New York Times]]'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref>

In 2022, Biden appointed [[Ketanji Brown Jackson]], the first [[Black women|Black woman]] on the [[demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. However, she was replacing liberal justice [[Stephen Breyer]], so she did not alter the court's 6–3 split between conservatives (the majority) and liberals.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fritze |first=John |date=March 6, 2022 |title=Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would add another Protestant voice to heavily Catholic Supreme Court |url=https://news.yahoo.com/judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-add-100016272.html |work=Yahoo! News |language=en-US |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630163930/https://news.yahoo.com/judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-add-100016272.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=de Vogue |first=Ariane |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Ketanji Brown Jackson to join a Supreme Court in turmoil |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-fractured-supreme-court/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629222838/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-fractured-supreme-court/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 30, 2022 |title=WATCH LIVE: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on Supreme Court |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-as-first-black-woman-on-supreme-court |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-US |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630145216/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-as-first-black-woman-on-supreme-court |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on US top court |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62003518.amp |website=BBC News |date=June 30, 2022 |access-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701024904/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62003518.amp |url-status=live }}</ref> After ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization|Dobbs v. Jackson]]'' (decided June 24, 2022), which led to [[Abortion law in the United States by state|abortion bans in much of the country]], the Democratic Party rallied behind [[Abortion-rights movements|abortion rights]].<ref name=":0" />

In the [[2022 United States elections|2022 midterm elections]], Democrats dramatically outperformed historical trends, and a widely anticipated [[Wave elections in the United States|red wave]] did not materialize.<ref name="Tumulty 2022">{{cite news |last=Tumulty |first=Karen |date=November 9, 2022 |title=The expected red wave looks more like a puddle |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |access-date=November 10, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112060937/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Blake 20222">{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=November 10, 2022 |title=How bad the 2022 election was for the GOP, historically speaking |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/10/republican-losses-2022-midterms/ |access-date=November 13, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219205348/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/10/republican-losses-2022-midterms/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Democrats only narrowly lost their majority in the U.S. House, and gained a seat in the U.S. Senate,<ref name="Kinery 2022">{{cite web |last=Kinery |first=Emma |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Midterm results are looking increasingly sunny for Biden as he touts 'strong night' for Democrats |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/midterm-election-results-look-better-for-biden-as-democrats-avoid-red-wave.html |access-date=November 10, 2022 |website=[[CNBC]] |archive-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109235327/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/midterm-election-results-look-better-for-biden-as-democrats-avoid-red-wave.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Enter 2022">{{cite news |last=Enten |first=Harry |date=November 13, 2022 |title=How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/politics/democrats-biden-midterm-elections-senate-house/index.html |access-date=November 28, 2022 |publisher=[[CNN]] |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128185931/https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/politics/democrats-biden-midterm-elections-senate-house/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Crampton 2022">{{cite web |last=Crampton |first=Liz |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Democrats take legislatures in Michigan, Minnesota and eye Pennsylvania |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/09/democrats-take-legislatures-00065953 |access-date=November 10, 2022 |website=[[Politico]] |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105195034/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/09/democrats-take-legislatures-00065953 |url-status=live }}</ref> along with several gains at the state level, including acquiring [[Government trifecta|"trifectas"]] (control of both legislative houses and governor's seat) in several states.<ref name="composition_2023_05_23_ncsl_org">[https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition "State Partisan Composition,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition |date=July 4, 2023 }} May 23, 2023, [[National Conference of State Legislatures]], retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="statehouse_2023_01_18_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/us/democrats-michigan-minnesota-maryland.html "Statehouse Democrats Embrace an Unfamiliar Reality: Full Power,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605070246/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/us/democrats-michigan-minnesota-maryland.html |date=June 5, 2023 }} January 18, 2023, ''[[New York Times]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="trifectas_2022_11_11_ap_foxnews">[[Associated Press]]: [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/midterm-election-trifectas-democrats-won-full-government-control-these-states "Midterm election trifectas: Democrats won full government control in these states,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704090351/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/midterm-election-trifectas-democrats-won-full-government-control-these-states |date=July 4, 2023 }} November 10, 2022, ''[[Fox News]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="states_2023_07_01_gazette">[[Thomas Cronin|Cronin, Tom]] and Bob Loevy: [https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html "American federalism: States veer far left or far right,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html |date=July 4, 2023 }}, July 1, 2023, updated July 2, 2023, ''[[Colorado Springs Gazette]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="trifectas_2023_01_18_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/us/politics/state-legislatures-democrats-trifectas.html "In the States, Democrats All but Ran the Table,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/us/politics/state-legislatures-democrats-trifectas.html |date=July 4, 2023 }} November 11, 2022, ''[[New York Times]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref>

As of 2024, Democrats hold the presidency and a majority in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]], as well as 23 [[List of United States governors|state governorships]], 19 [[List of United States state legislatures|state legislatures]], 17 state government [[Government trifecta|trifectas]], and the mayorships in the majority of the country's major cities.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldpress.org/article.cfm/mayors-of-the-30-largest-cities-in-the-united-states |title=Mayors of the 30 Largest Cities in the U.S. |access-date=July 11, 2023 |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711234205/https://www.worldpress.org/article.cfm/mayors-of-the-30-largest-cities-in-the-united-states |url-status=live }}</ref> Three of the nine current [[U.S. Supreme Court]] justices were appointed by Democratic presidents. By registered members, the Democratic Party is the largest party in the U.S. and the [[List of largest political parties|fourth largest in the world]]. Including the incumbent, Biden, 16 Democrats have served as president of the United States.<ref name="sarnold" />