Introduction - Democratic Presidents
On this page you will find a list of men who served as president of the United States who were members of the Democratic Party. You will find links to detailed informational pages about several of them; links to several of them can be found elsewhere on this site; for example the information page on Andrew Jackson can be found under the Best Presidents List. Also below there are several facts about these presidents and about the Democratic Party that both kids and adults should find interesting. Why is a donkey used to represent the Democratic Party? Who were the best Democratic Presidents? Read on for answers to these questions and more.Click here for a great selection of Amazon.com books about the Presidents of the United States.
List of Democratic Presidents
- Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837)
- Martin Van Buren (1837 - 1841)
- James K. Polk (1845 - 1849)
- Franklin Pierce (1853 - 1857)
- James Buchanan (1857 - 1861)
- Andrew Johnson (1868)
- Grover Cleveland (1885 - 1889 and 1893 - 1897)
- Woodrow Wilson (1913 - 1921)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 - 1945)
- Harry S. Truman (1945 - 1953)
- John F. Kennedy (1961 - 1963)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 - 1969)
- Jimmy Carter (1977 - 1981)
- Bill Clinton (1993 - 2001)
- Barack Obama (2009 - 2017)
Interesting Facts about the Democratic Presidents
- There have been 15 Democrats who have served as the chief executive officer of the U.S. who in total have served for over 85 years.
- The political beliefs of the Democratic Party lie with the Democratic-Republican Party which was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. These beliefs include minimal interference of the federal government with state rights and strict adherence to the United States Constitution.
- On top of the list above is Andrew Jackson who was the first Democratic President; he served from 1829 to 1837.
- From 1828 through 1856 the Democratic Party lost only two presidential elections.
- The Democratic Party is often symbolized by a donkey. The use of a Donkey can be credited to a cartoonist named Thomas Nast. He drew a political cartoon for Harper's Weekly in 1870 which portrayed Democrat supportive newspapers in the South as a Donkey; the image caught on as representing the party.
- Today the Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the U.S.; the other being the Republican Party.
- Many of the Democratic presidents make our Best Presidents List (see separate section); they include Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman.
- Four of the Democratic Presidents above are listed in our Worst Presidents list (see separate section); they are Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Andrew Johnson.
- Three of the men listed above succeeded to the presidency after the death of the previous president. These presidents are listed below:
- Andrew Johnson - Became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
- Harry S. Truman - Took over the presidency after Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office. He was later elected to a full term.
- Lyndon B. Johnson - Was sworn in as president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was subsequently elected to a full term.
- Democratic Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) is the only president, of any party, to serve more than two terms; in fact he was elected four times.
- Listed last in the above list, elected in 2009, is the current president Barack Obama, who is a member of the Democratic Party.