Surprisingly, it had nothing to do with money. He was referring to a knife with a buckhorn handle. While playing cards, players would move the dagger around the table as a way of keeping track of whose turn it was to deal the cards.

When the buck "stops here," it is time to pick up the cards, shuffle, deal and play.

The word "buck," when used to mean money, comes from the word buckskins, which fur trappers used as payment instead of currency.

Though cards gave Truman his buck, it should be noted that they did not give us a phrase that is commonly attributed to them. Winning something "hands down" did not come from placing winning cards face-down.

As a matter of fact, it comes from horse racing. If a horse was well ahead of the pack, the jockey would let go of the reins and put his "hands down" on the horse. This gave the animal free rein . . . and us another expression!