the democratic party was started in 1828 as a pro-slavery party and the first president was andrew jackson in 1829. however, through the economic resurgence after the great depression in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the democratic party became a proponent of racial equality. many 20th century united states presidents such as woodrow wilson, franklin d. roosevelt, harry s. truman, john f. kennedy, lyndon johnson, jimmy carter, bill clinton and 21st century presidents such as barack obama and joe biden are democrats. they have 48 out of 100 seats in the u.s. senate (independents caucusing with the democratic party hold two seats in the u.s. senate) and 222 out of 435 seats in the house of representatives. 24 out of 50 state governors are also democrats. the party generally promotes liberalism and is often classed as a center-left to left-wing party. currently, the party has 60 million registered voters across america.