Political Animals

August 08, 2015  •  Leave a Comment

Neither Democrats nor Republicans initially chose their animal symbol. Andrew Jackson, when called a jackass during his 1828 campaign, turned the slur into a selling point. Donkey imagery first appeared with Jackson in an 1837 cartoon. Cartoons also helped make the elephant into a Republican symbol. During the Civil War, the elephant became associated with Union victories, and therefore Lincoln's party. Civil War soldiers on both sides would talk of having "seen the elephant," been in battle for the first time. In 1862, Lincoln turned down the King of Siam's offer of elephants, but the King did not intend to send them into battle.

A camel did get involved in the war on the Confederate side.

 


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