Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828. His opponents called him a jackass, so he decided to play with them and put donkeys on his campaign posters. An editorial cartoonist named Thomas Nast used donkeys to symbolize Democrats after that.
Andrew Jackson was the first candidate of the "Democratic" Party. When he ran for re-election, he was called a "Jackass". He liked that "compliment" so much, he adopted the jackass, or donkey, as the symbol of the Democratic Party. This is according to the History Channel's series "The Presidents."
For the same reason the Republicans are represented by an elephant; early political cartoonist Thomas Nast first conceived of the critters in the 1870's in political Cartoons in Harper's Weekly. The choice of elephant or donkey was pretty much ruled by the political conventions and representations of the day and there are different reasons put forth why Nast used one or the other.
Candidate Andrew Jackson had been called a "Jackass" by the fifth graders strewn across the country at the time (get it? JACKson, JACKass) and Jackson turned the tables on his opponents by adopting the donkey as a symbol of his stubborn adherence to democratic principles. But Jackson was out of office for many years when Nast drew his characters.
Guess what? The republican's have an elephant - the democrats have a donkey.
'Donkey' suggests 'stubborn (other word that means donkey, but can be used as a swear)'. Elementry, My dear Watson. 8-)
The donkey represents the Democratic Party.
It doesn't mean anything. The Republican animal symbol is the elephant.
Because they are jackasses
The main political symbol for the US Democratic Party is the donkey, ideally incorporating at least a couple of stars and the colors red, white and blue. A couple of years ago, the Democratic Party tried out a new logo, of a white letter D on a blue background, meant to evoke D for Drive versus R for Reverse, but its public reception was underwhelming. Most people know it only from Jon Stewart's ridicule. Thus, for the time being, they're sticking with the donkeys.
It is a donkey and the now-famous Democratic donkey was first associated with Democrat Andrew Jackson's 1828 presidential campaign. His opponents called him a jackass (a donkey), and Jackson decided to use the image of the strong-willed animal on his campaign posters. Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast used the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous.
They didn't so much choose it as decided to go along with what someone else was using to represent them.The first time the donkey was used in connection with the Democratic party was during Andrew Jackson's presidential campaign when his opponents tried to label him a "jackass" (Jackson the jackass). Jackson turned it around and used it as his own symbol on his campaign posters. His opponents used it again to characterize his stubbornness in refusing to re-charter the national bank. It got dredged up again after he left office but still though of himself as the leader of the Democratic party. In a political cartoon, Jackson was shown trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon, published in 1837, was titled "A Modern Baalim and his Ass." In this case the donkey was representing the Democratic party rather than Jackson - the first time the donkey actually represented the party rather than a member of the party.Years later (starting around 1870) the famous political cartoonist Thomas Nast used a donkey to represent the Democratic party and party members in his cartoons. His cartoons are also established the Elephant as the symbol of the Republican party. It is unlikely that Nast ever saw the Jackson cartoons since he didn't emigrate to the US with his parents until 1940 when he was six.
Thomas Nast
Thedonkey symbol of the Democratic party dates back to Andrew Jackson, because people called him the slang word for donkey. It was not until a cartoonist drew the donkey symbol forHarper's Weekly(a popular magazine)in 1870 that the term and image really took hold. In most of the images, the donkey's legs are red, it's top half blue with stars, to illustrate the US Flag.
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The Donkey is the symbol of the Democrat Party.
There was no symbol prior to the donkey.
The elephant is a symbol of the Republican Party; the donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party.
An elephant is the symbol of the republican party. The donkey is the symbol of the democratic party.
The symbol for the Democratic Party is a Donkey.
The elephant is a symbol of the Republican Party; the donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party.
The donkey.
it stand for its stuborness
The Democratic party symbol is a donkey. It is blue on the top with white stars. It is also red on the bottom.
The symbol for the Democratic Party is a donkey, and the symbol for the Republican Party is an elephant. They are the two dominant parties in American politics.
The animal symbol for the Democratic Party is a donkey. On the other hand the animal symbol of the Republican Party is the Elephant.