“The Buck Stops Here,” October 2, 1945
President Harry S. Truman receives his famous desk placard from his friend Fred A. Canfil, then US marshal for the Western District of Missouri. Canfil saw a similar sign while visiting the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma, and asked the warden to duplicate it. The two-and-a-half by thirteen-inch sign was mounted on a walnut base, and was imprinted with “I’m From Missouri” on the reverse, seen only by Truman. The phrase derives from games of poker played on the frontier, in which a buckhorn knife was passed around the table, indicating who was dealer.