1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Ask Fear and Greed, where we take your 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: questions and do our very best to answer them. I'm 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: Michael Thompson, and good afternoon, Sean Aylmer. 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Michael, Sean. 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: Today's question is a very US election themed question. It 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: has come from Nikki on Instagram and she says, why 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: are an elephant and a donkey the symbols of the 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: Republican and the Democrats respectively in the US? What do 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: they mean? And I thought this is a great one. 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 2: For you because you do love your US politics, though 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 2: I do, and I knew half the story, but I 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,559 Speaker 2: certainly didn't know the full story. So there was a 13 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 2: cart a cartoonist at half As Weekly who's famous in America. 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 2: His name was Thomas nast in Ast or nast in Ast, 15 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 2: and there are stories that the word nasty comes from 16 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 2: this cartoonist, Thomas nast Anyway, he was actually the person 17 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 2: who gave those who first drew those political symbols for 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 2: the Democrats and the Republicans. He was also in Harper's Weekly, 19 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 2: sort of the person who created Uncle Sam, and also 20 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 2: Santa Claus in the US or the US's version of 21 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 2: Santa Claus, which I think is quite phenomenal. Yeah, So 22 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 2: he was at Half as Weekly for about twenty five years. 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 2: He became America's first great political cartoonist and one of 24 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 2: its harshest satirists. The thing is, where did he get 25 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 2: the idea from? Well, it's probably before then. So the 26 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 2: Democratic Party is donkey Originally, it's probably traced back to 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 2: the eighteen to twenty eight presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson. 28 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 2: During that race, opponents of Jackson called him a jackass. 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 2: So it's not just this campaign people being yelling names 30 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 2: at each other. A jackass and so what did Andrew 31 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 2: Jackson do? I mean, he was a warho this guy. 32 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 2: What did he do? He loved it, So he included 33 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 2: an image of the animal in his campaign posters. 34 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: He decided to lean in, lean in. 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 2: That's it. He leaned in to the donkey, and then 36 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 2: Thomas Nast or Nast picked it up and ran with it. 37 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 2: So that's that one. The Republican Party that was formed 38 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 2: in eighteen fifty four, it got the elephant a cup 39 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 2: sort of a decade later or so, but Abraham Lincoln 40 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 2: became its first member ever elected to the White House. Now, 41 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 2: an image of an elephant was featured as a Republican 42 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 2: symbol in at least one political cartoon and a newspaper 43 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 2: illustration during the Civil War. This is according to history 44 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 2: dot com. Now, seeing the elephant was a phrase they 45 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 2: used to use. It used to be an expression used 46 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 2: by soldiers to mean experiencing combat. But it probably didn't 47 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 2: take hold of the Republican Party symbol until Thomas Nast 48 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 2: actually picked it up and ran with it, and that 49 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: was in about eighteen seventy four. So they have longer 50 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 2: histories both with Presidents Andrew Jackson Democratic Party, Abe Lincoln 51 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 2: for the Republicans. But was this Thomas Nast or Nast 52 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 2: who was a Harpers Weekly columnist and a great political satirist, 53 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 2: who actually gave the form of the donkey and the 54 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 2: elephant as we know today. 55 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: Isn't it remarkable to think how influential some people are 56 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: that we've never actually heard of. 57 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, So this guy was pretty cool. I mean, 58 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 2: not only did he basically he grew up in New 59 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 2: York City in the footies and fifties. Apparently he was 60 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 2: ferociously bullied as a child, and so throughout all his 61 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 2: cartoons there are always bullies of massive size, and they're 62 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 2: always being beaten. The bullies are always being beaten, and 63 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: this is kind of what he became known for. And 64 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 2: then of course the Democrat and Republican symbols, Uncle Sam, 65 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 2: Santa Claus, a few things like that. Quite satirist. 66 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: That is amazing. I love, I Love, and ask Fear 67 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: and Greed where where we both? 68 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. I had heard of Thomas Nast or Nast. 69 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 2: I had never didn't know the Abe Lincolm and Andrew 70 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 2: Jackson connections. It is very cool. 71 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: That is fantastic. All right, that was a great question. Nikki, 72 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: thank you for asking it, and Sean, thank you for 73 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: answering it. 74 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 2: I've got to give some well, that's some. I've got 75 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 2: to give all credit to history dot Com, to CNN, 76 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 2: to New York Times. I was chasing up a bunch 77 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 2: of resources on that, so I should mentioned all those. 78 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: That's fair, all right. Remember if you've got something that 79 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: you would like to know, basically, if you've got something 80 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: that you would like Sean to research extensively, then send 81 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: it on through via LinkedIn or Instagram as Nikki did, 82 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: or Facebook or at Fearangreed dot com dot au. Jump 83 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: onto the website and send it on through there and 84 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,600 Speaker 1: we'll pop your question on the list. I'm Michael Thompson 85 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: and this is Ask Fear and Greed