Today's MOZEN: The Buck Stops Here

One of the most notable things associated with President Harry S. Truman was a sign on his desk that read THE BUCK STOPS HERE. It was made at the Federal Reformatory in El Reno, Oklahoma and sat on the President's desk from October 1945 until he left office.  It's a term that was first used in frontier poker games. A buckhorn knife on the table was pointed at the man whose turn it was to deal the cards. When a player wished to pass on his turn as dealer to someone else, the knife was moved, thereby passing the buck.

Harry Truman

Truman referred to the slogan on more than one occasion to emphasize the enormous responsibility that sits squarely on the shoulders of the President. He simply CANNOT pass the burden of leadership on to anyone else. No matter what the pain my be, the President must stand alone, resolute in his convictions and decisions.

This is what leaders do.

At least that's how it use to be.

We now have a blustering bully for a President that only takes responsibility for his own perceived greatness. According to him, he has never made a mistake in his life. If anything has gone wrong in his administration, it was not by his ineptitude but rather at the hand of others lacking his great insight and skills: China is responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Press is always lying about him. His staff deserts him because they are corrupt and inept. Health care has not been passed because Congress acts against him. Woman accuse him of sexual misconduct because they are after his money. Businesses sue him because they are jealous of his success.

And the list goes on.

Illustration by Kaya Mar

The Buck Stops Here means that the for better OR worse, the President is ultimately responsible for EVERYTHING that happens on his watch. Excuses be damned. OWN UP or SHUT UP - this President is incapable of either. In fact, it seems that for Mr. Trump, based on a recent NY Times article claiming that, in fact, he is in a great deal of debt, the buck stops NOWHERE - literally as well as figuratively.