AP U.S. History - Review Packet
Evolution of U.S. Political Parties
The Founders did not foresee nor did they approve of political parties. Political parties, they feared, would formalize factions and lead to concentrated power, corruption, and tyranny. Nevertheless, during the Federalist period, 1789-1800, political parties did form around opposing leaders Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican (often called “Anti-Federalists”, especially by the Federalists). The chart below shows the development of the “two party system”. Note that while the two-party system existed for most of our history, the names and major positions of these parties change over time. Some of the more significant minor parties are also included here.
1790's Federalists “Third” Parties Democratic-Republicans
(Or “Hamiltonians”) (Or "Jeffersonian Republicans")
1796 John Adams -
1800 - Jefferson
1804 - Jefferson
1808 - Madison
1812 - Madison
1816 - Monroe
1820 - National Republicans Monroe
One Party: Era of Good
Good Feelings
1824 John Quincy Adams Jacksonian Democrats
1828 - Andrew Jackson
1832 - Andrew Jackson
1836 - Liberty Van Buren
1840 Whigs
Harrison/Tyler -
1844 - Polk
1848 Taylor/Fillmore Free Soil -
1852 - Pierce
1856 - Republican Buchanan
1860 Republican (true two-party system now firmly established) S. Democrats N. Democrats Lincoln - -
1864 Lincoln /Johnson(a Democrat) - -
1868 Grant - -
1872 Grant - -
1876 Hayes Democrats
1880 Garfield/Arthur -
1884 - Cleveland
1888 Harrison -.
1892 - Populist Cleveland
1896 McKinley Socialist
1900 McKinley/T. Roosevelt -
1904 T. Roosevelt -
1908 Taft -
1912 - Progressive (Bull Moose)¹ Wilson
1916 - Communist Socialist Wilson
1920 Harding/Coolidge -
1924 Coolidge -
1928 Hoover -
Republican “Third” Parties Democrat
1932 - F. D. Roosevelt
1936 - F. D. Roosevelt
1940 - F. D. Roosevelt
1944 - F. D. Roosevelt/Truman
1948 - States' Rights (Dixiecrats)² Truman
1952 Eisenhower -
1956 Eisenhower -
1960 - Kennedy/Johnson
1964 - Johnson
1968 Nixon -
1972 Nixon/Ford -
1976 - Carter
1980 Reagan Citizens -
1984 Reagan -
1988 Bush -
1992 - Clinton
1996 - Reform³ Green Clinton
2000 G. W. Bush -
2004 G. W. Bush -
2008 - Obama
¹Unhappy with Taft, Roosevelt loses an attempt at regaining the Republican presidential nomination to Taft. Within days, he and other progressives form the Bull Moose Party, creating, in a sense, four parties: progressive Democrats, conservative Democrats, stand-pat Republicans, and progressive Republicans. With the Republican and Bull Moose Party splitting the vote, Democrat Woodrow Wilson is elected president with 42 percent. A fourth candidate, Socialist Eugene Debs, gets 6 percent.
²Dixiecrats revolted from the Democratic Party due to Truman's support for civil rights. Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, they nominated South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond as their candidate for president. In the November election, Thurmond carried four states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. He received well over a million popular votes, and his thirty-nine electoral votes represented more than 7 percent of the total.
³H. Ross Perot, Texas billionaire, ran independently for the Presidency. Although he received no electoral votes, he did receive more than 19 million popular votes, the largest percentage for a "third party" candidate since Teddy Roosevelt ran as the Bull Moose candidate in 1912. The movement spawned by his candidacy has developed into a "Reform" Party, but has no clear vision other than to "throw the rascals out."