News at Hamilton College
198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323
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[email protected]
July 31, 2000
To: Editors, Reporters, and Producers
From: Sharon Rippey and Holly Foster
RE: Symbolism and Presidential Campaign Experts Available to Comment
The Elephant and the Donkey as Symbols of America's Political Parties
Harpers Weekly engraver Thomas Nast created and popularized the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey more than 125 years ago. "Nast was very anti-Democratic and pro-Republican during most of his career," says Hamilton College Professor Jay Williams, who collects Nast engravings and is writing a book about him. "He used the donkey to symbolize anything ornery and asinine. The elephant connoted strength and nobility, though many of his pictures show the elephant falling into a pit," Williams says. "In other words, its strength was also its weakness. Nast was an influential political commentator so what he made up endured."
Contact: Jay Williams, 315-859-4208, [email protected].
How Presidential Campaigns Use the Media
Richard Powell, professor of government, Hamilton College, is a specialist in American politics, particularly the presidency, Congress, and political parties. His publications have focused on the way in which relations between the president and Congress are being altered by emerging technologies. He has also written extensively on presidential elections and the impact of term limits on state and national government. He holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
Contact: Richard Powell, 315-859-4624, [email protected].
(Powell will be in Washington this fall to teach Hamilton College's American politics D.C. semester program.)
Presidential Elections and Race Relations in American Politics
Philip Klinkner, associate professor of government, and director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College, is known for his research on the dynamics of race relations in American politics and history. Klinkner is the author of several books
including, The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of American's Commitment to Racial Equality (University of Chicago Press, 1999). He was a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1990-91, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Klinkner has commented on a variety of political topics for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and on numerous radio and television shows.
Contact: Philip Klinkner 315-859-4344, [email protected]
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For more information or to schedule interviews please call 315-859-4680 or 800-222-6381. Or via e-mail [email protected]
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