Healthy Influence Blog

The Wall Street Journal is reporting a new take on an old phrase associated with President Harry Truman: The buck stops here!

You might recall photos of Mr. Truman at his desk with that sign nearby. I do and like you I thought the buck was a nice economic metaphor for taking responsibility. And it does, but in a surprising way that demonstrates Truman’s subtle persuasion skill.

See, Truman was secret poker fan. The public at large had no idea that Truman played this vice (1945, different standards). If you are are a true poker fan you know that some poker games require a “button” and that, way back in the day, players marked the button player by sticking a knife in the table in front of the current button. And back in that day everyone’s knife was a buckhorn knife.

“The buck stops here,” still conveys the metaphor of practical responsibility, but with new shades (and “shady’s”) of meaning. Truman knew that large numbers of the electorate disapproved of gambling in any form so he kept it quiet, but he managed to play poker, play President, and play a persuasive twist on a metaphor.

Remember the Rules.

It’s about the Other Guy, Stupid.

All Bad Persuasion is Sincere.