Origin of the word lobbyist?

For those of you interested in word origin and/or politics, check this out from USAToday:

The Willard Hotel
Washington, D.C.

Call this the birthplace of special interests. “President Grant was not a big fan of the White House, and he liked to get out and have a cigar in the evening,” Fawcett says. “He would go to the lobby of the Willard Hotel almost every night for a cigar and drink. People would wait in the lobby until he got there and then talk to him informally about what it was they needed. They became known as lobbyists.”