By: Faith Forster

Managing and Graphics Editor

Have you ever wondered why our nation’s two largest representatives have the most ridiculous animals as their mascot? To begin, we have to go back to 1828, the year of Andrew Jacksons second run for presidency. 

 During this run most of his opponents called him a “jackass.”. Typical of Jackson’s wild nature,, he happily took on the title and started using an image of a donkey within his campaign posters. 

 But it wasn’t until after Jackson died that Thomas Nast took up the donkey once more, using the donkey as the official symbol of the political party. 

 With the Republicans, it was a bit of a different claim to their mascot. The party wasn’t officially formed until 1854. Six years later, it was Abraham Lincoln who became the first Republican of the Oval Office.  

 During the Civil War, the elephant was what depicted the Republican Party in a political cartoon. It was in reference to the expression used by soldiers of “seeing an elephant.” This was to mean that a soldier finally acted in real combat.  

 Later, Thomas Nast swoops in, and in the 1874 Harper’s Weekly cartoon, the elephant claimed its place with the Republican Party. The piece was titled “Third-Term Panic,” mocking a newspaper that had criticized President Ulysses Grant after there were rumors of him running for a third term.  

 There were many different political parties, all depicted as different animals. The elephant happened to appear in the cartoon representing “the republican vote.” After that, the elephant took up the role as the Republican Party mascot. 

 While the Donkey and Elephant may seem random, they equally have a purpose, as ridiculous as it might seem. Now, we live with those decisions, seeing a Donkey and an Elephant flood the news every time elections come up.