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The Democratic Donkey

When Andrew Jackson ran for President in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a “jackass” for his populist views and his slogan “Let the People Rule.” Jackson, however picked up on their name calling and used it to his advantage, putting the donkey on all of his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was utilized to represent Jackson’s stubbornness when he vetoed the re-chartering of the National Banking system.

The first time a donkey was used in a political cartoon to represent the Democratic party, it was again in conjunction with Jackson. Although in 1837 Jackson was officially retired, he still fancied himself as the Party’s leader and as such, was depicted as trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon was cleverly entitled “A Modern Balaam and his Ass.”

[Ed’s note: refers to the talking donkey in the Old Testament who carried the Midianite seer to meet the Moabite King, Balak, who wanted Balaam to curse the children of Israel. An Angel of God appeared, armed with a sword to slay Balaam but visible only to his ass, blocked their path so the animal turned aside. Frustrated that the donkey stopped and would not budge, Balaam began to beat her until God gave the Ass the power of speech where she lets him have it. Eventually the Angel shows himself to Balaam, explaining that the donkey had only been trying to save his life.]

Interestingly enough, the person credited with getting the donkey widely accepted as the Democratic Party’s symbol probably had no knowledge of the prior associations. Thomas Nast, the infamous political cartoonist, came to the United States with his parents in 1840 when he was only six years of age. He first used the donkey in a 1870 Harper’s Weekly cartoon to represent the “Copperhead Press” kicking a dead lion, symbolizing Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had recently died. Nast intended the donkey to represent an anti-war faction with those he disagreed with, but the symbol caught the public’s fancy so the cartoonist continued using it to indicate various Democratic editors and newspapers.

[Ed’s note: In a related note, according to a book “Horse Tails,” by Sylvia Porter, Guiness Books, in 1872, Nast drew Horace Greely offering himself as the combined Democratic/Republican presidential candidate with a donkey in the background being yoked by a Republican ox. After Greely lost his bid Nast drew a bucking donkey throwing him off its back.]

Later, Nast used the donkey to portray what he called “Casesarism” showing the alleged Democratic uneasiness over a possible third term for Ulysses S. Grant. In conjunction with this issue, Nast helped associate the elephant with the Republican Party. Although the elephant had been connected with the Republican Party in cartoons that appeared between 1860 and 1872, it was Nast’s cartoon in 1874 published in Harper’s Weekly that made the pachyderm stick as the Republican’s symbol. A cartoon entitled “The Third Term Panic” showed animals representing various issues running away from a donkey wearing a lion’s skin tagged “Caesarism.” The Elephant labeled “The Republican Vote” was about to run into a pit containing inflation, chaos, repudiation, etc.

Over the years, the donkey and elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic & Republican parties. Although the Democrats never really officially adopted the donkey as their party symbol, it has used various donkey designs on their publications over the years. The Republicans on the other hand, actually adopted the elephant as their symbol and today use that design exclusively.

Democrats think of the elephant as bungling, stupid, pompous, and conservative - but Republicans consider it as more dignified, strong, and intelligent. On the other hand, Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn, silly, and ridiculous - but the Democrats claim it is more humble, smart, courageous, and lovable. Perhaps Adlai Stevenson provided one of the most clever descriptions ever said of the Republican symbol when he said, “The elephant has a thick skin, a head full of ivory, and as everyone who has seen a circus parade knows, it proceeds best by grasping the tail of its predecessor.”

(This Page last updated: July 25, 2000)