Owls are cool bro. It'd be a better party animal than elephants or donkeys.
I think the Modern Whigs have the owl as their party symbol.
Presidents Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt were the Modern day Whigs.
1916 was the year that the party split came about, as WWI and neutralization stemmed the Whig movt; and the Income Tax Increase created the Torie party; which gave rise to Tea Party movement. Which name wasnt official given until 2010.
But Hughes; who still symbolized the owl, was far different than Harding and Hoover; opposition to tax increases which lead to Great Depression.