Democrats don't like Jefferson and Jackson anymore

(Image credit: iStock)

published 12 August 2015

Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson have long been claimed as early defining figures in the history of the Democratic Party, but they may soon slip off their pedestals: Four state branches of the DNC have already renamed their annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner events to avoid now-unwanted historical associations, and at least five other state parties are considering doing the same.

The decision "confirms that our party believes it is important to change the name of the dinner to align with the values of our modern-day Democratic Party: inclusiveness, diversity and equality," said Andy McGuire, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, the latest group to make the switch. Both presidents owned slaves, and Jackson also backed the Indian Removal Act and the infamous Trail of Tears.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.