Origin of the Republican Elephant

In the spring of 1874, the New York Herald printed an editorial raising the cry of

Caesarism against President Ulysses S. Grant. The Herald falsely believed that Grant

would attempt to run for an unprecedented third term in 1876.

Herald editorial writers apparently felt this would have overthrown the unwritten rule that

presidents served only two terms, making Grant a dictator. Despite its falseness and

rumors that the Herald had printed the editorial only to gain publicity, the idea was used

by Democrats that year to scare Republican voters away from the party in Congressional

elections.

About the same time, the New York Herald concocted another scheme to increase its

circulation. The paper printed a fabricated story that wild animals had escaped from the

Central Park Zoo and were roaming the city looking for prey.

Seeing an opportunity to use both the Caesarism charge and the animal scare, cartoonist

Thomas Nast produced a cartoon which appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 7,

1874. Nast drew a donkey (the symbol of the Democratic Party for which Nast was also

responsible) clothed in a lion's skin, scaring away the other animals in the park.

Among the animals in the cartoon is an elephant, labeled "The Republican Vote." Nast

chose the elephant because it was believed that elephants were clever, steadfast, and

easily controlled, but unmanageable when frightened.

The election soon afterwards proved all of these to be true. Nast's post-election cartoon

depicted an elephant having walked into a Democratic trap.

Soon, other cartoonists began using elephants to symbolize Republicans, and eventually,

the Elephant came to symbolize the Republican Party.