Show r 0 Tales and Traditions from Am American can Political History IT FRANK E. E HAGEN ND ELMO SCOTT WATSON TIlE THE DEMOCRATIC DEl DONKEY ALTHOUGH L A Thomas Nast blast Is usually usually A. k ally credited with being theman theman the theman man who made the donkey one of ot the emblems of ot the Democratic party the fact Is that some other cartoonist whose name is unknown used the same symbol fully three decades before belore the famous Harpers Harper's Harpers Harper's Har Har- I pers per's Weekly artist did When Andrew Jackson retired from the presidency in 1837 he dumped in the lap of ot his successor Martin Van Buren a flood of ot wildcat wildcat wildcat wild cat currency and wild speculation caused by his destruction of at the United States bank and the distribution distribution distribution distri distri- of at the treasury surplus In private banks So a n cartoonist of ot otI that period drew a picture entitled I The Modern Balaam and His Ass which showed Jackson mounted on ona ona ona a donkey across whose withers hung a bag labeled Specie Currency Cur Cur- rency rency Circulating Circulating Medium A ghost host labeled Bankrupts of 1837 was causing the donkey to balk and md its rider was belaboring it with a cane labeled Veto Behind Behind Be Be- hind the rider and his his' mount walked Van Bu Buren en saying I shall tread in the footsteps of at my Illustrious GUS ous Us predecessor From that that time on on during the disputes over the fhe he money question the donkey frequently appeared in inthe inthe the cartoons and became the accepted accepted ac ac- ac symbol of Democratic party But it was the genius of ot Thomas Nast which made this symbol familiar to millions of at Americans During the feud between President President President dent Andrew Johnson and Edwin M. M Stanton secretary of ot war Nast was a strong ally aUy of ot the latter When Stanton Stanlon died soon after President President President dent Grant had made him a justice of ot the Supreme Court the southern Democratic papers continuing the feud attacked Stanton Stanlon even in their obituary notices of or him On J January nuary 15 1870 Nast drew his first donkey cartoon It pictured pic plc- Stanton as a dead lion being kicked by a donkey labeled Copperhead Copperhead Copperhead Cop press Underneath it were the lines A live Jackass kicking a dead Lion and such a Lion and such a Jackass In later cartoons he also depicted the Democratic papers especially James Gordon Bennetts Bennett's New York Herald a a- a aa a I donkey and after a while began applying the symbol to the Democratic Democratic Demo Demo- cratic cratie party as ns well as its press HEADGEAR TF IF YOU lose yo your r standards I rally to my white plume cried Henry of Navarre before the Battle of Ivry Ivry and so the helmet of ot Navarre with its snowy decoration decoration decora decora- tion lion became the sign and symbol of ot ofa ofa ota a cause which won and made him king of ot France In American politics too voters have r rallied behind candidates candidate's whose headgear or some other bit bitof bitof bitof of apparel have been characteristic of ot the man In the days of Andrew Jackson loyal Democrats brandished brandished brandished bran bran- dished hickory canes in im imitation tation of the one which Old Hickory carried In 1840 the Whigs clapped coonskin caps on their heads and went out to sing and cheer Old Tippecanoe the Indiana frontiersman frontiers frontiers- man into the White House On the streets of New York the white beaver hat worn by Horace Greeley editor of ot the llie Tribune was wasa a familiar sight But perhaps even evenin evenin evenin in those days the were suspicious of at a high hat candidate candidate candi candi- date so Greeleys Greeley's supporters wearing white while plugs failed to elect him Ulysses S. S Grant once worked in a tannery therefore parades parades parades pa pa- rades in his honor were marked by men inca wearing shaggy and obviously obvious obvious- ly fur coats arid and bearing signs which dec declared red Bring on the enemy and well we'll tan his hide In the Cleveland campaign of 1888 his running mate was Senator Thurman the last member of the upper house to use snuff After Alter doing doing doing do do- ing so he would sweep a red bandanna bandanna bandanna ban ban- danna handkerchief out of his pocket pock pock- et with a grand gesture So Democrats Democrats Demo Demo- Democrats that year had whole suits made of ot bandannas and women wore bandanna dresses Another vice presidential candIdate candidate candidate candi candI- date who furnished a striking headgear headgear head held gear symbol for tor his party was Theodore Theodore Theodore The The- odore Roosevelt Thousands wore Rough Rider hats in the campaign of ot 1900 and it was still a potent emblem in 1004 1904 when T. T R. R was candidate for President But another quarter of ot a century was to elapse before a n bit of headgear headgear headgear head head- gear would be a feature of the campaign In 1928 Alfred E. E Smith made the brown derby famous from one end of the land to the other other other oth oth- oth- oth er but it b became came a n symbol of defeat de feat teat instead of at victory O e Western Newspaper Union |