What does GOP Stand For?
A favorite of headline writers, GOP dates back to the 1870s and ’80s. The abbreviation was cited in a New York Herald story on October 15,1884; “‘ The G.O.P. Doomed,’ shouted the Boston Post…. The Grand Old Party is in condition to inquire… But 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, in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1876 to “Grand Old Party.” In early motorcar days, GOP took on the term “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 ’70s to modernize the party, Republican leaders took to referring the “grand old party,” harkening back to a 1971 speech by President Nixon at the dedication of the Eisenhower Republican Center in Washington, D.C. Indeed, the “grand old party” is a
