Why is the elephant the symbol of the US Republican party?

The elephant and the donkey were both thought up as a poke at the parties represented. It is kind of strange that the parties themselves have adopted these symbols that were originally meant to insult. Behold the power of the mainstream media.

This is from factmonster.com

Nast invented another famous symbol—the Republican elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

the reason came from a political cartoon that was issued shortly after the Civil War and with this the images stuck in Americans minds and the artist chose those for at the time i believe that the candidate was reminded him of an elephant and the other a jackass(animal). and as historians say "and the rest was history" it just sort of stuck

At first glance the elephant,like the republican party especially the the right wing conservative part of the party is fat,slow and very much like Dumbo. On closer inspection the elephant has heart which the right wing republicans do not!

Nast invented another famous symbol—the Republican elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

The now-famous Democratic donkey was first associated with Democrat Andrew Jackson's 1828 presidential campaign. His opponents called him a jackass (a donkey), and Jackson decided to use the image of the strong-willed animal on his campaign posters. Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast used the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous.

Democrats today say the donkey is smart and brave, while Republicans say the elephant is strong and dignified.

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I find it ironic, the party that uses the symbol of an animal which never forgets, has forgotten that it was Bush who got us into a recession for a YEAR before he left office, this same party as further more forgotten all values that it once held strongly, this party as become nothing more than a bunch of whiners who just sit around and complain about any effort to rebuild and make US strong again. If you ask me they don't deserve to have the elephant as a symbol.

Thomas Nast, the cartoonist made it up in the late 1800's when Ulysses Grant was considering running for a third term in office. With scandal and corruption and Grant's possible then-unprecedented third term, Nast was trying to paint an image of a bloated party that was getting a little too big.

Edit: Thumbs down for a factually correct answer? Some people are a little oversensitive.

Well, the symbol of the Democratic Party is the jackass, so why not?

It originated in cartoon in 1874.