President Harry S. Truman served as the 33rd President of the United States, and he popularized the phrase “the buck stops here.” The expression comes from “passing the buck,” which means passing responsibility to another. Fred Canfil, a colleague of President Truman, had a desk sign made with the inscription “the buck stops here,” and had one sent to him. On a number of occasions, President Truman made references to the desk sign. In a 1952 speech, he 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.”