Why are Democrats represented by a donkey and Republicans with an elephants?

Answer 1

There are many stories out there but this link sums it up very well


They didn't pick these labels – they got stuck with them! Their origin as symbols for the parties is attributed to a political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, who used the donkey

"Third Term Panic" by Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, 1874.
and the elephant in cartoons drawn for Harper's Weekly in the 1870's. Why Nast chose the donkey and the elephant is a pretty complicated story.

Answer 2

Newspapers critical of each attached the symbols around 1900.
Democrats originally used a rooster.
Republicans were elephants because they supported huge corporations, a big issue then as now.
Democrats were called donkeys to discredit their criticisms, to cast them as rural know-nothings.
Today, of course, they are very urban and Republicans are rural.
The symbols are a little outdated but still kept around anyway.

Answer 3

The Donkey— Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson grew to become into the 1st Democrat ever to be linked with the donkey image. His fighters in the process the election of 1828 tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist ideals and slogan, "enable the folk rule." Jackson grew to become into entertained by skill of the theory and ended up making use of it to his benefit on his marketing campaign posters. yet cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the known image of the Democratic social gathering. It first appeared in a sketch in Harper's Weekly in 1870, and grew to become into meant to symbolize an anti-Civil conflict faction. however the popular public grew to become into at modern-day taken by skill of it and by skill of 1880 it had already develop into the unofficial image of the social gathering. The Elephant— Political cartoonist Thomas Nast grew to become into additionally to blame for the Republican social gathering elephant. In a sketch that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's epidermis, scaring away each and all the animals on the zoo. a type of animals, the elephant, grew to become into categorized "The Republican Vote." this is all it took for the elephant to develop into linked with the Republican social gathering.

Answer 4

I think it started with cartoonist Thomas Nast, however, holding the Donkey theme for Democrats was and is very appropriate.

Answer 5

Republicans have better brains and have longer lasting memory elephants have good memories. & stand up for america and GOD. republicans are more polite & care about the PEOPLE

Democrates talk usally out of the donkeys u know whats?
& sometimes stand up for God and Americans Democrats dont care about the PEOPLE

Im republican and christian
i mean No offense I have few freinds christian and democratic and I believe they have some good points. or some good sense.

Answer 6

It goes back to political cartoons. Neither one was suppesed to be flattering to the other, but it stuck and they made lemonaide of out lemons. Started towards the end of the 19th cent.

The donkey is actually a jackass, and the elephant is slow and clueless.

Answer 7

Aunt Acid is quite correct, but if you are asking the question seriously, it is because they were represented that way by the political cartoonist Thomas Nast back in the 19th Century, and the icons just stuck.

Answer 8

Because of events long ago. It's time to update the symbols IMHO. The Republican Party should have a symbol resembling the Cayman Islands, for the Tax Shelters all their buddies use over there.

Answer 9

I think we all know the name that represents each animal

Answer 10

Republicans have small brains like the elephant and Democrats are jackasses.