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
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
Federalists
(Or “Hamiltonians”)
John Adams
-
“Third” Parties
National Republicans
Democratic-Republicans
(Or "Jeffersonian Republicans")
Jefferson
Jefferson
Madison
Madison
Monroe
Monroe
One Party: Era of Good
Good Feelings
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
John Quincy Adams
Jacksonian Democrats
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Liberty
Van Buren
Whigs
Harrison/Tyler
Polk
Taylor/Fillmore
Free Soil
Pierce
Republican
Buchanan
Republican
(true two-party system now firmly established) S. Democrats
N. Democrats
Lincoln
Lincoln /Johnson(a Democrat)
Grant
Grant
Hayes
Democrats
Garfield/Arthur
Cleveland
Harrison
-.
Populist
Cleveland
McKinley
Socialist
McKinley/T. Roosevelt
T. Roosevelt
Taft
Progressive (Bull Moose)¹
Wilson
Communist Socialist
Wilson
Harding/Coolidge
Coolidge
Hoover
-
AP U.S. History - Review Packet
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
Republican
Eisenhower
Eisenhower
Nixon
Nixon/Ford
Reagan
Reagan
Bush
G. W. Bush
G. W. Bush
-
“Third” Parties
States' Rights (Dixiecrats)²
Citizens
Reform³
Green
Democrat
F. D. Roosevelt
F. D. Roosevelt
F. D. Roosevelt
F. D. Roosevelt/Truman
Truman
Kennedy/Johnson
Johnson
Carter
-
Clinton
Clinton
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."