Where and why does the buck stop? | Letter
Letter in Maine Sunday Telegram Debates Origin of “The Buck Stops Here”
Portland, Maine – In a letter to the editor published in the August 16 edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland resident Cliff Gallant criticized former President Donald Trump for refusing to accept responsibility for actions taken while in office. Gallant contrasted Trump’s stance with that of former President Harry S. Truman, who famously posted the phrase “The buck stops here” above his desk in the Oval Office.
Gallant’s letter argued that Trump’s unwillingness to hold himself accountable is in stark contrast to Truman’s approach, suggesting that the former has “failed to recognize that the buck stops at the top of the chain of command.” While the letter focused on Trump’s conduct, it also offered a brief exploration of how the expression “the buck stops here” entered American political vocabulary.
Gallant offered two possible origins. First, he suggested that the phrase may have come from a frontier custom in which a buckhorn‑handle knife was passed to the player whose turn it was to deal in a game of poker. In this version, the knife – or “buck” – symbolized responsibility, and the phrase would have been a literal reminder that the person dealing the cards was the one to whom accountability was attached.
The second, and more plausible, theory Gallant favored involved a Native American custom. He described a practice in which a buck was corralled into the center of a circle of young warriors. The individual who prevented the buck from breaking through the circle would be chosen as the new chief. According to Gallant, this ritual implied that the person who stopped the buck was the one who had to bear the responsibilities of leadership, thereby giving rise to the idiom “the buck stops here.”
The letter, which ran in the letter‑page column of the Sunday Telegram, did not provide direct quotations from primary historical sources but summarized these traditions as widely reported in historical accounts of frontier and Native American practices. Gallant concluded that the phrase’s enduring relevance lies in its clear message of personal accountability, a standard he implied Trump has not upheld.
The Maine Sunday Telegram’s editorial team acknowledged receiving the letter on Tuesday and noted that it was published the following day, following the newspaper’s standard review process for opinion pieces.
Gallant’s letter reflects a broader national debate over presidential accountability, and it highlights the continuing use of historical phrases to frame contemporary political discussions.
