-
(#1) Presley Decided To Fly To Washington On A Whim
By the end of the '60s, Presley had turned his career focus back to music after a stint in the film industry, but he'd also become prone to prescription pill use and erratic behavior. Such an episode occurred in December 1970, when Presley got upset that his father and wife thought it was excessive to spend $100,000 on Christmas gifts.
Presley stormed off to the Memphis, TN, airport and boarded a plane headed to Washington, DC, where he got a hotel room. He soon lost interest in the city and returned to the airport, hopping on a plane bound for Los Angeles, CA. He stayed in California for a single day before he resolved that he had business to attend to in the nation's capital.
Presley's wife, Priscilla, recalled, "We were mystified. For the first time, he was traveling alone - without even one bodyguard. Elvis didn't even know his own phone number, nor did he carry cash. How was he going to get around?"
-
(#2) Presley Wrote A Letter To Nixon On American Airlines Stationary
After boarding a late-night flight to Washington, DC, Presley decided to make a formal request for a meeting with President Nixon in writing; he used American Airlines stationary. The hurriedly scrawled letter featured questionable penmanship and heaped praise of the president:
Dear Mr. President,
First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office...
P.S. I believe that you, Sir, were one of the Top 10 Outstanding Men of America also. I have a personal gift for you which I would like to present to you, and you can accept it, or I will keep it for you until you can take it.
-
(#3) Presley Claimed To Be Concerned With The Influence Of Counterculture On The Rock Scene
In his letter to President Nixon, Presley expressed his concern for the future of the country. Specifically, Presley was worried about the ever-evolving counterculture movement and its impact on the nation's youth - and he didn't hesitate to namedrop those he saw as particularly threatening:
I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago and expressed my concern for our country. The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc. do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it "the establishment." I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concern or motives other than helping the country out.
-
(#4) Presley Asked To Become An Undercover Agent
In Presley's letter to President Nixon, it became clear that Presley wasn't asking for a simple face-to-face meeting with the president - he wanted something in particular. Presley stated that he was seeking an official federal badge. He wrote:
I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position. I can and will do more good if I were made a Federal Agent at Large and I will help out by doing it my way through my communications with people of all ages...
I have done an in-depth study of [substance use] and Communist brainwashing techniques, and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good. I am glad to help just so long as it is kept very private.
-
(#5) Presley Posted Up At A Nearby Hotel And Waited For Nixon's Reply
Presley appeared in DC ready to wait as long as it took for Nixon to respond. In his letter, Presley stated his intention to stay in a local hotel under a pseudonym, Jon Burrows, until the two could meet. He wrote:
Sir, I am staying at the Washington Hotel, Room 505-506-507. I have two men who work with me by the name of Jerry Schilling and Sonny West. I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent.
-
(#6) Nixon Agreed To Meet Presley The Same Day He Got The Letter
After Presley delivered his letter to the White House, President Nixon agreed to meet with him later that day. While President Nixon himself was allegedly less than thrilled about the notion of meeting the King of Rock and Roll, his aides convinced him that Presley represented an opportunity for the president to connect with the country's youth. Nixon aide Dwight Chapin wrote in a memo:
It would be wrong to push Presley off on the vice president since it will take very little of the president's time and it can be extremely beneficial for the president to build some rapport with Presley. If the president wants to meet with some bright young people outside of the government, Presley might be a perfect one to start with.
The appointment was set for 12:30 pm in the Oval Office and Presley showed up half an hour early.
-
(#7) Presley Tried To Walk Into The White House With A Colt .45
Presley attempted to enter the White House while carrying a Colt .45. The piece dated back to WWII and was intended as a gift for the president, as promised in his letter. White House security made Presley give the .45 to them before he was allowed to enter.
The gift also included silver bullets, and the Secret Service reportedly "viewed that quite dimly."
-
(#8) No Recording Of The Meeting Exists, But A Memo Reveals An Emotional Presley
The 1970 meeting between Presley and President Nixon predated the installation of Nixon's infamous taping system in the White House. There is no known transcript of the dialogue between Presley and the president. The only documentation of their encounter is an internal memo written up by Bud Krogh, a Nixon official who witnessed it. Krogh wrote:
Presley indicated to the President in a very emotional manner that he was "on your side." Presley kept repeating that he wanted to be helpful, that he wanted to restore some respect for the flag which was being lost. He mentioned that he was just a poor boy from Tennessee who had gotten a lot from his country, which in some way he wanted to repay.
He also mentioned that he is studying Communist brainwashing and the [counterculture] for over 10 years. He mentioned that he knew a lot about this and was accepted by the hippies. He said he could go right into a group of young people or hippies and be accepted, which he felt could be helpful to him in [Nixon's endeavor to eliminate substances]. The President indicated again his concern that Presley retain his credibility.
-
(#9) Presley Railed Against The Beatles And Their 'Anti-American' Ways
According to Bud Krogh's memo of the meeting, Presley wasn't afraid to spill the tea on a specific group that he thought was doing a disservice to America: the Beatles. Presley dedicated a large chunk of his time with the president railing against the British band, and Nixon readily agreed with his assessment:
Presley indicated that he thought the Beatles had been a real force for anti-American spirit. He said that the Beatles came to this country, made their money, and then returned to England where they promoted an anti-American theme. The President nodded in agreement and expressed some surprise. The President then indicated that those who use [substances] are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest.
-
(#10) Nixon Gave Presley A Federal Agent Badge And Sent Him On His Way
The meeting ended with what Bud Krogh described as "a surprising, spontaneous gesture," in which Presley "put his left arm around the president and hugged him." Then, President Nixon turned to Krogh and asked, "Can we get him a badge?"
The answer was yes, and Presley walked out of the White House in possession of a genuine badge from a predecessor agency of the DEA - but he did not have any actual authority.
Presley had brought along his collection of badges from various police forces to show the president, and his new federal badge was added to this, as it functioned as little more than a souvenir. That didn't stop Presley from referring to himself as a "Federal Agent at Large."
-
(#11) The Famous Photo Of The Duo Is The Single Most Requested Photo In National Archives History
The handshake that preceded the spontaneous hug between Presley and President Nixon is the subject of one of the most famous photographs in White House history. Photographer Ollie Atkins had snapped the photo of the meeting; the picture perfectly captures the bizarreness of the occasion - and the powerful dichotomy between the two men.
The image has since become the photograph that is most frequently requested from the US National Archives.
-
(#12) Presley's Wife Claims It Was All A Scheme To Legally Carry Substances Into Foreign Countries
According to at least one source close to the King, Presley's intentions were less than honest when he went to the White House in search of a federal badge. His wife at the time, Priscilla, wrote in her memoir, Elvis and Me:
The [official] badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him... he [believed it meant he could] legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any [substances] he wished.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
Amazon Pictures once filmed a comedy about a legendary meeting between the superstar Elvis Presley and US President Nixon in 1970. Many people have also seen this classic photo of them. In the morning, Elvis Presley personally handed a handwritten note to the White House security guard, stating that he wanted to visit the president, and presented him with a pistol from World War II as a gift.
Elvis Presley described that he wants to be appointed to a position in the national fight against drug crimes. Richard Nixon and his officers believed that Elvis Presley was sincere and he could help combat drug abuse in America, so they arranged a meeting that afternoon. The random tool introduced 12 details about this weird meeting in the White House.
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.