Party of the People: A History of the Democrats

by Jules Witcover

After more than two centuries of sometimes stormy, always intriguing history, the Democratic Party of the United States survives as the oldest political organization in the world. In Party of the People , veteran political chronicler Jules Witcover traces the Democratic Party’s evolution, from its roots in the agrarian, individualistic concepts of Thomas Jefferson to its emergence as today’s progressive party of social change and economic justice. Witcover describes the Democrats' dramatic struggle to deÞne themselves and shares with us half a century of personal observation of the party through its most turbulent times.

First called, oddly enough, the Republican Party but later known as the Democratic-Republican Party and eventually the Democratic Party, this creature of Jefferson and James Madison evolved from an early ideological and personal struggle with the commerce-minded Alexander Hamilton. Seasoned by the populism of Andrew Jackson, the party was nearly undone by the “peculiar institution” of slavery in the South, which led to the birth of the rival Republican Party and to the Civil War. Half a century later, America emerged from World War I under Democrat Woodrow Wilson as a reluctant international player, and from World War II under Franklin Roosevelt as a liberal bastion and global superpower.
In the civil rights revolution, the party shed much of its racist past, but subsequent white middle-class resentments and the divisive Vietnam War opened the door to a rival conservatism that effectively demon-ized Democratic liberalism. Defensively, the party under Bill Clinton sought safer centrist ground and seemed on the brink of establishing a “third way," until the disastrous 2000 electoral college defeat of Al Gore left the Democrats shaken and splintered. As the new century emerges, they are debating whether to return to their liberal roots, setting themselves clearly apart from the Republicans, or press on with the centrist pursuit of a broader, less liberal constituency.

In Party of the People (a perfect companion to Grand Old Party by Lewis L. Gould, a history of the Republicans published simultaneously by Random House), Jules Witcover offers a rich and comprehensive popular history of the ideas, struggles, and key Þgures that have deÞned the Democratic Party over the past two hundred years and are now

Genres: Politics, History, American History, Nonfiction

848 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2003

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable history of the Democratic Party by Jules Witcover (1927-2025), journalist, author, and political columnist. He takes us from the party's beginnings under Jefferson and Madison through the New Deal years and on to the Clinton era of the 90s and the defeat in the 2000 election ( thanks to the US Supreme Court).
I read this in 2005 and posting this review in 2026, as the Democratic Party faces its greatest challenge to save democracy...

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, thorough history of the Democratic party from the start thru 2000. Alot of detail not only about those who became president, but those that didn't. Shows how the party overcame the racist wing from the south to become a champion of the working class.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading "Grand Old Party" by Lewis Gould, I was really looking forward to this book. It was published by Random House around the same time. Instead of finding a flowing narrative and a balanced approach like I found in Gould's work, I found Witcover's style to be plodding. Witcover also incessantly justified the party's position, offering no balance like Gould did in his work. There is minimal discussion on the issue of slavery, which was at the forefront of the party's political positions for much of the first part of the nineteenth century. Rather than focusing on the people, he focuses largely on presidents and candidates, even leaving someone as important as John C. Calhoun with several brief mentions. Witcover notes that Andrew Jackson was an aristocrat who portrayed himself a "man of the people," yet Witcover condemns William Henry Harrison for doing more or less the same. His connections of the party's origins to Jefferson are tenuous at best, as he admitted (if my memory serves me right) that the transition of the Democratic-Republicans to the Democrats wasn't so smooth (Henry Clay is a great example--started off as a Jeffersonian but founded the Whig Party). Admittedly, I was so disappointed on the nineteenth century that I never made it to the twentieth.

But I digress. Again, after reading Gould's work on the Republicans, I expected something far better than Witcover provides.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

clearly written, well organized and full of insights not only on the presidents but also party platforms, critical elections, and key leaders. Witcover was a journalist who penned several good election biographies which gave him extensive background from which to write the book.

[Matej Mehmedhajic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bu kitap, partinin tarihinden çok tüm başkanlık yarışlarının tarihini anlatıyor. Yazar, ömür boyu Demokrat olup aynı zamanda açık bir partizan olduğundan, Demokrat Parti tarihine objektif bir bakış beklememek gerektiğini biliyordum. Eğer objektif bakiş arıyorsanız, başka yerlere bakmalısınız. Burada bulamayacaksınız. Örneğin, yazar Andrew Jackson'ı övüyor ancak Amerikan yerlilerini yok etme kampanyasına sadece iki hafifçe üzerine yazılmış paragraf ayırıyor; bu ülkenin tarihindeki en korkunç soykırımlardan biri olabilir. Demokrat Parti'nin yıllarca iç terör silahı olan ve sadece Demokratların üye olabildiği KKK'ya neredeyse hiç değinmiyor. Ayrıca, yazar, köleliğin savunucusu veya İç Savaş'ın başlatıcısı olarak Demokratları nadiren suçluyor . Bunun yerine, demokrat yalanlarına başvurarak bunu "güneyliler" yerine "güneyli Demokratlar" olarak tanımlayarak kimlik siyasetine sapma yapar. Jim Crow yasalarına geçici bir şekilde bahsedilir, fakat bunların yıllarca Demokratlar tarafından kurulup uygulandığı belirtilmez. Diğer bir hayranı da Woodrow Wilson'dur, modern ilerici sevgilisi ama herkes tarafından bir ırkçı ve Sosyalist yandaşı olarak bilinir. Yazar, onu böyle tanımlayabilecek herhangi bir şeyden bahsetmez. Daha fazla devam etmeme gerek yok. Eminim şimdi, FDR, JFK ve LBJ hakkındaki düşüncelerini rahatça tahmin edebilirsiniz. Yani, eğer Demokrat Parti tarihinin objektif bir hikayesini arıyorsanız, bu kitap tam olarak aradığınız şey değil. Burada tek suçu kendime bağlıyorum, daha iyi araştırmam gerekır dı almadan önce .

[Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witcover's 2003 book is wonderful in many respects. An exhaustive study of Democratic Party personalities, priorities, infighting, conventions and candidates going back to the founding of the Party, as well as some pretty keen insights into their Republican and other party counterparts. This is more a book about politics than history. World events are not delved into in sufficient detail to reveal why the Party took certain positions. A 2003 book, it ends with a description of G.W. Bush's difficulties as president, but not in any meaningful way about the consequences to party politics of the attacks of September 11. Indeed, there is a depressing insularity one feels about Witcover's analysis. Nevertheless, the book contains many revealing gems. J.F. Kennedy's quote about West Virginians: "I refuse to believe that the people of this state are bigots, guided in this most important choice by prejudice," [p. 481] can be compared today to Joe Biden's "10 to 15 percent [of Americans] are just not very good people," [The Hill 6/6/2020] or Hillary Clinton's claim that "half of Donald Trump's supporters belong in a basket of deplorables." [TIME 9/10/2016]. Party politics can be ugly business. Witcover has told many key aspects of the story, but this reader wanted more.

[RB · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this book. It neglects to cover in any depth an important aspect of the history of the Democratic Party. The Democrats supported the institution of slavery before the Civil War. After the end of Republican Reconstruction (during which scores of Blacks were elected to political offices in the South), southern Democrats enforced segregation, passed Jim Crow legislation, and did everything possible to keep Blacks from voting. Blacks could register with the Republican Party where the latter was permitted to exist but at some peril to the lives of the former. Reading about the Colfax Massacre is instructive in this respect. Congress recently passed the first federal anti-lynching law. After the Civil War, Republicans introduced several anti-lynching bills, none of which passed owing to southern Democratic opposition and filibustering. Then in 1934 two brave northern Democratic senators drafted the first anti-lynching bill sponsored by Democrats. It too failed. FDR would not support it. And let us not forget the Trail of Tears and the internment of Japanese Americans.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a European, the history of the Democrats was mostly unknown to me. Now, having read this book, I understand much better a number of things in US politics. So, for me, a real eye-opener. Also, Witcover managed to keep me interested from the first to the last page; this says a lot about the quality of his writing.

[Dylan Baade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about the road each presidential candidate took in order to get to the White House. There journey to get nominated the primary opponents thay faced the Republican opponents they faced and the effect they had on the party.

[John Bohnert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's main focus was on all the presidents. State Democratic party politics were ignored for the most part.

[Sean Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a little refreshing to read a classic political reporter again.

[Valarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts slow--really slow--but it gets more readable starting in the Jacksonian era. The more the Democrats are imperiled, the more interesting it gets.

What I learned from this book is that Democrats were accused from their anti-Federalist prototype of being treasonous--either they were too Francophilic in the post-colonial era, too comfortable with Southern rebels during the Civil War and Reconstruction, too comfortable with communism--you'd think their opponents would come up with something ... fresher.

And, by the way, the impact of the Civil War on the Democratic party takes up far more than five pages. When you add the Buchanan era and Reconstruction--which was the origin and the aftermath of the war--it takes up at least three chapters.

[Leif Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a borderline two star. The writing does not flow, there is a disconcerning number of errors and typos, and even at 720 pages the events are covered rather briefly. I would have thought the effect of the Civil War on the Democratic party would merit more than 5 pages. The title is also misleading. It's really a history of Democratic presidental campaigns and administrations. On the plus side, it is jammed packed with the kind of political trivia and gossip that makes history worth reading about. Especially after 1933. I'm not sure Witcover really wanted to write about pre-FDR times as the beginning is somewhat forced and unoriginal.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that gives a solid overview of the history of the Democratic party. There is a good reason why the party has survived for 200+ years. For anyone interested in learning the history of the Democratic party, I highly recommend this book.

[Brian Tran]

The title connects to the story as the book talks about the Democratic Party and it was meaningful. The authors writing style was the author shows and tells the very dense history of the party and I did enjoy it but the information was very dense. The story’s purpose was to explain the Democratic Party and how it shaped America and the author does this by breaking the book into digestible sections on important matters to the Democrats. What strikes to me as noteworthy was the author went into detail just about everything even the smallest of policies that an average person may not think about. The topics of discussion this book raises is how much the Democratic Party has changed especially in the last 60 years. The audience that would appreciate this book would be people interested in learning about the political parties. What I noticed about the authors craft was the author would be the middle person presenting information to the audience. The aspect I didn’t enjoy was how condensed the book feels to me. What I would change about this book is have a list on what side Democrats are on in prominent issues.