While the elephant had appeared in Civil War-era imagery as a symbol of bravery in combat, it was Nast’s 1874 cartoon “Third Term Panic” that firmly linked the creature with the Republican Party. In this cartoon, Nast mocked the New York Herald’s ...

The donkey and elephant became political symbols in the United States through a combination of historical events and the work of political cartoonists, particularly Thomas Nast.The Donkey as a Symbol

In 1828, during his presidential campaign, Democratic leader Andrew Jackson's opponents referred to him as a 'jackass,' which he later embraced to symbolize steadfastness and determination.