Thomas Jefferson founds the party.	1792
	1798	The party becomes known as the "party of the common man" and is officially named the Democratic-Republican party.
Jefferson, the first Democratic president, is elected.	1800
	1824	The party splits in the famed election of 1824.
After the election of Andrew Jackson, the national convention process and the party platform are created.	1828
	1840	The party is officially named the Democratic Party.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected, leading to well-known new Democratic policies: the Social Security System, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Works Progress Administration, and others.	1932
	1953 - 1960	A Democratic-controlled Congress passes the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy is elected President. He negotiates the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and creates the National Air and Space Administration.	1960
	1963	JFK is assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President. The Civil Rights Act is passed and the Great Society programs are enacted.
Running for reelection, LBJ wins by a landslide.	1964
	1968	Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey battle it out for the party nomination until RFK's assassination.
The Democrats battle over their nomination, with two more moderate candidates losing out to "radical" liberal George McGovern.	1972
	1976	Georgia Governor & relative unknown Jimmy Carter is elected President in a narrow election.
Carter runs but is weakened by the hostages in Iran, inflation, and unemployment.	1980
	1984	Presidential candidate Walter Mondale chooses Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential running mate, making her the first woman to run for such a position.
The Senate becomes a Democratic majority.	1986
	1988	Michael Dukakis runs and loses.
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected President.	1992
	1996	Many Americans vote for incombent Clinton as the "lesser of two evils."
Vice President Al Gore loses in one of the closest and most hotly contested elections in American history.	2000