A favorite of headline writers, GOP dates back to the 1870's and 80's. The abbreviation

was cited in a New York Herald story on Oct. 15,1884: "The G.O.P. Doomed."

However, what GOP stands for has changed with the times. In 1875, there was a citation

in the Congressional Record referring to "this gallant old party," and according to

Harper's Weekly, a reference in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1876 to "Grand Old

Party." Perhaps the use of the "G.O.M." for Britain's Prime Minister William E. Gladstone in

1883 as "the Grand Old Man" stimulated the use of GOP in the United States soon after.
In early motorcar days, GOP took on the meaning of "get out and push." During the

1964 presidential campaign, "GO-Party" was used briefly, and during the Nixon

Administration, frequent references to the "generation of peace" had happy overtones.

In line with moves in the 70's to modernize the party, Republican leaders took to

referring to the "grand open party," harkening back to a 1971 speech by President

Nixon at the dedication of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Center in Washington,

D.C.: "The Republican party must be the Party of the Open Door."
Indeed the "Grand Old Party" is an ironic term since the Democrat Party was organized