An elephant and a donkey?

As we get closer to Presidential Election in the United States (well, not that close yet), and banners, pins, bumper stickers emerge with names, symbols, etc., one critical question emerges?  Why do the parties use animal images for the respective parties.  As most of us know, Republicans use an elephant, and Democrats a donkey.

As you see from the images below, the donkey on the left (Democrats), the elephant on bottom(Republicans), and together for the 2016 campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

So, let's do a quick look back at where these iconic symbols began, and how/why they continue to be utilized.

 

The  Democratic donkey was first associated with Democrat Andrew Jackson's 1828 presidential campaign. His opponents called him a jackass (a donkey), and Jackson decided to use the image of the strong-willed animal on his campaign posters. Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast used the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous.

 

That same cartoonist, Thomas Nast invented another famous symbol—the Republican elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

Democrats today say the donkey is smart and brave, while Republicans say the elephant is strong and dignified.  I'm not sure any of us agree with those narratives, but that's where they came from.