The symbol of the donkey for the Democratic party first appeared in 1828 when Andrew Jackson was running for president. His opponents liked to refer to him as a jackass to which he twisted the image in his favor. Instead of focusing on the negative adjectives attached to the jackass, Jackson decided to focus on the positives- steadfast, determined, and willful. In 1870, Thomas Nast popularized the symbol of the donkey for the Democratic Party. Nast drew a donkey, representing the Copperheads a group of northern Democrats, kicking a dead lion to symbolize President Lincoln’s recently deceased press secretary. The Donkey would be seen as an insult of the Democrats and demonstrate their dishonor of the Lincoln administration. In 1874, Nast drew another cartoon depicting the Democratic press as a donkey in lion’s clothing to depict them as a fear mongers. The Democratic party never adopted the donkey as their official symbol, but during election periods democrats are associated with the donkey.
Works Cited
Stamp, Jimmy. "Political Animals: Republican Elephants and Democratic Donkeys." Smithsonian. N.p., 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2015. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/political-animals-republican-elephants-and-democratic-donkeys-89241754/?no-ist>.
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