In the early days of poker, a marker (e.g., a knife with a buck-horn handle during the American Frontier era) was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal, he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck", as the marker came to be called, to the next player.
President Truman had a sign on his desk that read "The buck stops here". The phrase referred to the fact that, as President, he was the one to make the final decisions and thus has to accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.
Now, all politicians have a sign on their desks that reads "The buck stops over there."
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