These are the most famous Democratic Presidents in America

Who’s up for another history lesson? In the previous article, we created a comprehensive list of some of the most famous Republican presidents in America; in today’s article, I will focus on the other major political party and discuss some of the most famous Democratic presidents in America.

Martin Van Buren and other politicians united behind war hero Andrew Jackson to form the Democratic Party in the late 1820s. Parts of the defunct Democratic-Republican Party gave rise to the party that became known as the “common man’s party.”

The party initially supported both states’ rights and individual rights. They were wary of banks, favored slavery, and believed in a minimal central government. Additionally, they largely agreed with Jefferson’s vision of an agrarian society.

Early in presidential elections, the party succeeded, frequently defeating the Whig opposition. However, the party would be weakened by North/South divisions, and from the Civil War until the Great Depression, only two Democratic presidents would be elected.

Nonetheless, the Democrats remained competitive and were more successful in Congress during this time. White southerners who disliked the Republican Party and a new wave of Bourbon Democrats, such as Grover Cleveland, who centered their goals primarily on business interests, were their main sources of support. A list of Democratic presidents in America can be found below.

Andrew Jackson

I begin the list of the most famous Democratic presidents in America with Andrew Jackson, who was a general in the War of 1812 and the seventh Democratic president, elected in 1828 and again in 1832. Jackson promoted defending “natural rights” from the assaults of a “corrupt aristocracy,” in keeping with the tenets of the newly formed Democratic Party.

This platform resonated with the American people, who swept him to a landslide victory over incumbent President John Quincy Adams in 1828, when mistrust of sovereign rule was still very much alive.

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren is one of the Democratic presidents in America who left a huge mark on history. He was the eighth president elected in 1836 and held office from 1837 to 1841. In large part, Van Buren won the presidency by vowing to carry on the well-liked policies of Andrew Jackson, his predecessor and political ally.

Van Buren was not elected to a second term in 1840 after the public blamed his domestic policies for the 1837 financial panic. Newspapers that opposed his presidency called him “Martin Van Ruin” during the campaign.

James K. Polk

Polk is one of the Democratic presidents in America, best known for overseeing massive territorial expansion. During his time at the White House, he managed to acquire California, Texas, and pretty much the Southwest through the Mexican-American War.

Having been the only president to hold the position of Speaker of the House, Polk was a supporter of Andrew Jackson’s “common man” democracy. Despite being considered a surprise candidate in the 1844 election, Polk emerged victorious in a fierce campaign against Henry Clay of the Whig Party. Voters supported Polk’s takeover of the Republic of Texas, which was considered essential to Manifest Destiny and western expansion.

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th president, serving just one term. Why is he among the most famous Democratic presidents in America? He is known for being one of the presidents who actively militated for the abolition of slavery.

Pierce’s strong application of the Fugitive Slave Act as president upset the growing number of voters opposed to slavery. Many historians and academics now argue that Pierce is among America’s worst and least successful presidents because of his pro-slavery policies, which failed to stop secession and avert the Civil War.

James Buchanan

Former Secretary of State and House and Senate member James Buchanan was the 15th President, serving from 1857 to 1861. The problems of slavery and secession were passed down from Franklin Pierce to Buchanan, who was elected shortly before the Civil War, but he largely ignored them.

Following his election, he sided with southern lawmakers in their attempts to admit Kansas to the Union as a pro-slavery state and supported the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which outraged both Northern Democrats and Republican abolitionists.

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson is considered one of the worst Democratic presidents in America. On the National Union ticket for the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, Johnson was elected vice president to Republican Abraham Lincoln. Following Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson took over as president.

Johnson was removed from office by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for failing to protect former slaves from possible federal prosecution while serving as president. Johnson never sought reelection, despite being cleared by a single vote in the Senate.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with J.F. Kennedy, stands as one of the most renowned Democratic presidents in America. The electorate elected Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd President, to an extraordinary and now unconstitutional four terms, from 1933 until his death in 1945.

Roosevelt, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents, guided the country through equally dire crises during his first two terms as president and during his final two, the Great Depression and World War II.

Roosevelt’s New Deal social reform package, which ended the Great Depression, is now regarded as the model for American liberalism.

Harry S. Truman

Following the passing of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 3the 3rd President Harry S. Truman took office and served from 1945 to 1953. He is arguably best known for his decision to end World War II by dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the 1948 election, Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey, despite well-known headlines falsely declaring his defeat. As president, Truman had to deal with the Cold War’s beginning, the Korean War, and the growing communist threat. As a moderate Democrat with a liberal legislative agenda akin to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Truman became known for his domestic policies.

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, also referred to as JFK, was the 35th president from 1961 until his murder in November 1963. JFK spent a large portion of his time in office managing relations with the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, which was exemplified by the tense atomic diplomacy of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Kennedy’s domestic program, dubbed the “New Frontier,” promised increased financing for education, health care for the elderly, rural economic assistance, and an end to racial discrimination. JFK also formally started America in the “Space Race” with the Soviet Union, which ended in 1969 with the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Barack Obama

If JFK didn’t need any introduction because he was one of the most popular and most appreciated Democratic presidents in America, the 44th President Barack Obama shares a similar image. He is the first Black president who serve two consecutive terms, from 2009 to 2017.

​Obama signed numerous important bills into law, but he is most known for “Obamacare,” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Among these was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was designed to help the country recover from the 2008 Great Recession.

In terms of foreign policy, Obama raised the number of American troops in Afghanistan while withdrawing the country from the Iraq War. He also negotiated the New START treaty between the United States and Russia, which reduced the number of nuclear weapons.

Which of these Democratic Presidents in America is your favorite?

You don’t have the article I was previously mentioning? The 7 Most Famous Republican Presidents in America.