Why do Republicans have an Elephant, and Democrats have a Donkey as symbols?

nellie

Both were based on cartoons created by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly in 1874. The drawing was called 'The Third Term Picnic' and showed a motlet crew of animals wandering around while the elephant 'The Republican Vote' stands near a hole. The Republicans lost control of the House of representatives a week later and the next Nast drawing had the elephant toppling into the hole. He also created 'The Democratic Donkey' in Feb 1872 when Horace Greeley was shown offering himself the Democratic and Republican nominations for President. When he lost later in the year, the bucking donkey threw him to the ground. In other words the Republicans and Democrats adopted the elephant and donkey respectively due to the efforts of Nast. Apr 16 02, 11:15 PM

Brainy Blonde

Most historians agree that the Democratic Party as we know it began with Jackson's successful 1828 presidential campaign. The 1828 campaign was also the origin of the Democratic Party's mascot -- the donkey. Jackson's opponents called him a 'jackass' during the campaign, and Jacksonians adopted the legendarily stubborn animal as a political symbol. See: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/democratic/features/history/ In a subsequent cartoon on November 21, 1874, after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed up the idea by showing the elephant in a trap, illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from its normal allegiance. Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself: the jackass, now referred to as the donkey, made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic party that had frightened the elephant. See: http://www.conservativesiteconstructionkit.com/archive/republican/ele-or.htm Apr 17 02, 5:12 AM

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