"Nast-y political symbols: How Thomas Nast introduced American elections to the donkey and the elephant

Have you ever wondered where America’s political parties got their donkey and elephant mascots?

Thomas Nast, the German-born editorial cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine, came up with both of them — he introduced the donkey first, onJan. 19, 1870: 155 years ago Sunday.

And in case you were wondering: Neither was intended to be particularly flattering.

Thomas Nast and The Democratic Party

Thomas Nast was born in Germany and immigrated to America with his family when he was six years old. Nast was reportedly a poor student in all topics but art. At age 14, he enrolled in art school and then, at age 16, began working as an artist for a newspaper. His work began appearing in Harper’s Weekly — one of the nation’s most popular publications — when he was 18.

Nast was 20 when the Civil War began. he developed as a liberal-leaning thinker and was fiercely loyal to the union during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln once referred to Nast as “our best recruiting sergeant.”

Thomas Nast

Nast drew cartoons about the mistreatment of slaves and former slaves, immigrants and Native Americans. When the war ended, he took on other topics, such as corruption in government and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan.

Political opponents had used a donkey as a way of insulting Democrats since the days of Democratic president Andrew Jackson. But it was Nast’s revival of the Democratic donkey in his Jan. 18, 1870 cartoon, shown above — “A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” — that popularized the symbol.

The cartoon depicts Democratic-leaning newspapers, “Copperhead papers”, as kicking the recently deceased Edwin Stanton, who Ulysses S. Grant had attempted to appoint to the Supreme Court.

In the early 1900s, the rooster had been the symbol of the Democratic Party. The rooster above left was adopted as the symbol for Alabama Democrats in 1904. The “white supremacy label was dropped in 1966. State party leaders still use a rooster in Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Indiana.

“Some have suggested that the word ‘nasty’ derives from the artist‘s surname,” writes CNN. “While this is almost certainly not true, one glance at his (editorial) cartoons might convince you that it is.” Nast could also be racist in his work, often depicting Irish-Americans and African Americans as monkeys.

In 1886, Nast lost his job at Harper’s Weekly. He invested his savings in a silver mine and in a Wall Street firm, both of which collapsed. For a while, he attempted to support his family by touring the country making “chalk talks,” where he charged top dollar to audiences eager to watch him draw.

In July 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Nast as consul general in Ecuador. When a yellow fever epidemic tore through the country that fall, Nast stayed at his post and assisted other U.S. diplomats in escaping.

Nast himself contracted the disease and died on Dec. 7, 1902 at the age of 62. His body was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.

One Down, One To Go: The Republican Elephant

Nast picked on Republicans as well as Democrats. In his Nov. 7, 1874 cartoon labeled “Third Term Panic,” Nast commented on Republican Ulysses Grant’s consideration of a third term as president. A donkey wearing a lion’s skin representing “Caesarism” frightens away an elephant labeled as the “Republican vote,” nearly falling into the trap of claims by Democratic-leaning Southern states.

Also running for cover are other forest citizens, including a “N.Y. Tribune” giraffe and a “N.Y. Times” unicorn while a “temperance” movement ostrich buries its head.

Nast would continue using Democratic donkeys and Republican elephants in his cartoons over the next dozen or so years while other cartoonists began to follow his lead.

Two More Images For Which Thomas Nast Is Known

One of Nast’s favorite targets was William Marcy “Boss” Tweed, the leader of Tammany Hall, a corrupt political machine based in New York City. The cartoon at right was published on Oct. 21, 1871.

“I don’t care what they print about me, most of my constituents can’t read anyway,” Tweed famously said. “But them damn pictures!” Tweed once offered an enormous bribe to Nast “so he could go abroad and study art.”

Tweed was eventually found guilty of 104 counts of embezzlement. During a court-allowed home visit, Tweet fled for Europe but was identified by a Spanish citizen who recognized him from Nast’s cartoons. He was returned to prison in the U.S. and died in jail in 1878.

Nast drew Santa cartoons for Harper’s Weekly each holiday season — a total of 33 in all. He based the look of his Santa on poet Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and on himself.

Nast drew his first Santa for Harper’s Weekly on Jan. 3, 1863, depicting the jolly ol’ elf distributing presents in a Union army camp wearing stars and stripes on his outfit.

The cartoon at left — from Jan. 1, 1881 — not only depicted Santa but also made a political point. Note the military-style backpack and the dress sword he’s wearing. The government was considering giving the military a pay raise. This was Nast’s way of supporting that idea.