who founded the new democratic party?
James Madison Thomas Jefferson
neutral
 Later that year , the National Republican party began to re @-@ brand itself as the Whig Party , a name that first appeared in the Lexington Intelligencer on April 25 , 1834 . On July 4 , 1834 , Governor Morehead hosted the party 's first convention in Frankfort . Kentuckians flocked to the " new " party en masse , and the legislative elections of August 1834 saw the party garner majorities in both houses of the state legislature . Flexing their political muscles , the majority party ousted Guthrie from his post as president of the Senate and by a vote of 90 – 40 , and sent John J. Crittenden instead of Guthrie to the U.S. Senate in 1835 . 

contradiction
 Alliance members gathered that December in Ocala , Florida , and formulated a platform , later called the Ocala Demands , that called for looser money , government control of the railroads , a graduated income tax , and the direct election of senators . Weaver endorsed the message in the Tribune and corresponded with the group 's leader , Leonidas L. Polk . Weaver attended the group 's convention in Cincinnati in May 1891 , where he and Polk argued against forming a third party . Another delegate , Ignatius L. Donnelly , argued forcefully for a break from the two major parties , and his argument carried the day , although Weaver and Polk kept many of Donnelly 's more radical proposals out of the convention 's statement of principles . 

contradiction
 The Republican Party had been founded in 1854 , in reaction to the Kansas @-@ Nebraska Act . Its anti @-@ slavery stance was attractive to Seward , but he needed the Whig structure in New York to get re @-@ elected . In September 1855 , the New York Whig and Republican parties held simultaneous conventions that quickly merged into one . Seward was the most prominent figure to join the new party , and was spoken of as a possible presidential candidate in 1856 . Weed , however , did not feel that the new party was strong enough on a national level to secure the presidency , and advised Seward to wait until 1860 . When Seward 's name was mentioned at the 1856 Republican National Convention , a huge ovation broke out . In the 1856 presidential election , the Democratic candidate , former Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan , defeated the Republican , former California senator John C. Frémont , and the Know Nothing candidate , former president Fillmore . 

neutral
 = = = Democratic and moral reform = = = 

contradiction
 After its founding , the party promoted itself as the legitimate heir of the Socialist Party of America . Former Mayor of Milwaukee , Frank Zeidler , was elected the first national chairperson of the party . Zeidler also helped re @-@ organizing the party structure during its early years . He was later nominated as the party 's candidacy for the presidential office , with Zeidler believing the party would be able to collaborate with other socialist parties nationwide to spread the message of socialism . 
