G.O.P. is an abbreviation of the phrase Grand Old Party, which was at first derisively applied to the Republicans but has since been accepted as a popular name for the party. On May 5, 1887, the Louisville
Courier-Journal carried the following caption for a news story: "The G.O.P. on a Still Hunt for a National Leader." It has been said, however, that the term was first used in 1880.
