Do you prefer donkeys or elephants?

Political donkeys and elephants have been kicking and stomping around since the 1800s...

Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat to be associated with the donkey symbol. In 1828, his opponents labeled him a jackass for his populist beliefs and slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson kind of liked it, and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters. In 1870, political cartoonist Thomas Nast penned his first cartoon featuring the democratic donkey kicking a dead lion, which symbolized Lincoln’s secretary of war, who had just tied. After a few more cartoons, the donkey stuck.

The Republican elephant made its first appearance in a piece of Lincoln campaign literature in 1864. Ten years later Nast portrayed an elephant bearing the title “Republican Vote” being chased by a donkey toward a pit labeled “Inflation and Chaos.” In 1884, Nast deemed the pachyderm “The Sacred Elephant,” a nostalgic symbol of the party he had once loved.

To date, the Democrats have kept the donkey kicking around – but never adopted it as their official symbol. The GOP, on the other hand, did eventually embrace the elephant and made it official.