The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States. From 1828-1860, the Democratic Party was the ruling political party. Having roots from the Democratic - Republican Party, the Democratic Party was founded around Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and the seventh president of the United States, with the aid of Martin Van Buren, a one-time Governor of New York and Secretary of State under Jackson. Jackson’s ideas and ambitions serve as the principles of the Democratic Party. The party ran the government all this time up until the Presidential Election of 1860 when the party split over the issue regarding slavery. (Mayne 1) The leaders of the Democrat-Republican Party were James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father and the third president of the United States. This party was the only party at the time in 1791, and the party had one purpose. This purpose was to stand against the Federalist Faction in the Presidential Election of 1801. (Mayne 1) Once this election had taken place, Thomas Jefferson was elected into office and the Democratic - Republican Party was in control. The party started having issues and began to stagger after the War of 1812. The Federalist Faction could not hold up after the war and served no competition to the Democratic-Republican Party. This led the Democratic-Republican Party into a state of not needing a strong base as a party. States started getting involved and having their own ideas and mindsets about the party. This caused the party to split in multiple different directions. Out of this came many major parties, one in which was the Democratic Party. “Democrats at this time strongly opposed aristocracy, a national bank, and programs which pushed to modernize America industry instead of family-based agricultural.” (Mayne 1) The Democratic Party became very popular. (Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica 1; “Democratic Pa