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"The Buck Stops Here" Desk Sign


     The sign "The Buck Stops Here" that was on President Truman's desk
     in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at
     El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred M. Canfil, then United States Marshal for
     the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a
     similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden
     if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was
     made and mailed to the President on October 2, 1945.
     
     Approximately 2-1/2" x 13" in size and mounted on walnut base, the
     painted glass sign has the words "I'm From Missouri" on the
     reverse side. It appeared at different times on his desk until
     late in his administration.
     
      The saying "the buck stops here" derives from the slang
     expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility
     on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have
     originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter,
     frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was
     used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the
     player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by
     passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next
     player.*
     
     On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk
     sign in public statements. For example, in an address at the
     National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You
     know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the
     coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the
     decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which
     says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made." In his
     farewell address to the American people given in January 1953,
     President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in
     asserting that, "The President--whoever he is--has to decide. He
     can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding
     for him. That's his job.
     
     The sign has been displayed at the Library since 1957.
     
     *Mitford M. Mathews, ed., A Dictionary of Americanisms on
     Historical Principles (Chicago, University of Chicago Press,1951),
     I, pages 198-199.

      http://www.trumanlibrary.org/buckstop.htm


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※ 來源: DISP BBS (http://disp.twbbs.org)
※ 作者: ott  來自: 118.166.12.76  時間: 2010-01-08 15:55:20