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Article: ASK THE GLOBE
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- November 11, 1996
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Q. Why did the Republicans choose the elephant and the Democrats the
donkey as their national party symbols?
A.D., Lincoln, N.H.
A. Neither party had anything to do with selecting its symbol. Both
were born in 1874 in the imagination of Thomas Nast, the
Bavarian-born illustrator often described as America's first
political cartoonist. According to William Safire's New Language of
Politics, "The donkey gained acceptance as the Democratic symbol in
1874 as a result of Thomas Nast's cartoons, supported by Ignatius
Donnelly's remark in the ...