Three weeks earlier, he had spoken in Palm Springs, CA with Spiro Agnew, the Vice President of the United States and had come away with a burning desire to fight the drug culture, hippies, the SDS, and the Blank Panthers. He became inflamed with the desire to be deputized by the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangersous Drugs (BNDD).
He asked Schilling to join him on a quick trip to Washington without giving many details about the reason of this trip. Bodyguard Sonny West would fly in from Memphis to meet them. Elvis asked Schilling to take out some cash, approx $500.00 for the trip cause he had left Graceland with only $20.00 and a credit card.
Elvis ended up giving away the money to a soldier returning from service in Vietnam.
Schilling said to Elvis, "That's all the money we got!"
Elvis replied, "I said give the man the money."
Elvis went back to his seat and started to write a strange letter to President Nixon on American Airlines sheets, asking Nixon for a small favor. ( see the letter at the bottom of this page )
Upon their arrival in Washington on the morning of December 21, 1970, Elvis and Schilling got off the plane, met Sonny West and took a limo to the Washington Hotel where they got rooms 505-506 & 507 registered under the names of Jerry Schilling, Sonny West, and Jon Burrows.
Right after breakfast, the trio set out to visit the White House.Elvis got out of the limo and simply walked up to the White House gates and handed the guard a 5-page letter addressed to President Richard Nixon.
Elvis asked to meet with the President although he had no appointment, and Nixon didn't even know he was coming.
Then he left to wait for an answer in his hotel room. Elvis could not wait for the answer.
He went off and asked for a meeting with the director of the BNDD to seek a badge. He instead met with BNDD deputy director John Finlator, who refused Elvis' request.
Meanwhile, at the White House, Nixon’s aides read Elvis’ letter, and thought it might not be such a bad idea to get photographs of the President meeting with the legendary King of Rock and Roll. “The President will see Mr. Presley for 20 minutes”.
In the hotel room, Schilling received a call inviting Elvis to the White House for a meeting with the president.
Elvis, Sonny and Jerry quickly went to the White House. The guns Presley had brought including the one he brought as a gift for Nixon had to be left at the gate.
At 12:30, Elvis was taken into the Oval Office. He was wearing a black suede suit, a white shirt with a high collar open to the chest, a dark purple cloak around his shoulders, a gold-plated belt and black leather boots.
He carried a cane, and wore amber-tinted sunglasses to cover his eyes, which were covered in heavy eye shadow and mascara. "He had on more mascara than the Avon Lady," recalls Marty Lacker.
When Elvis entered the Oval Office, Krogh recalls, he froze.
Elvis showed Nixon some pictures of his wife, Priscilla, and Lisa Marie, his law enforcement paraphernalia including badges from police departments in California, Colorado and Tennessee.
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 he was just a poor boy from Tennessee who had gotten a lot from his country, which in some way he wanted to repay.
The President mentioned that he thought Presley could reach young people, and that it was important for Presley to retain his credibility. Presley responded that he did his thing by singing. He said he could not get to the kids if he made a speech on stage, that he had to reach them in his own way. The President nodded agreement.
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 drugs are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest. Violence, drug usage, dissent, protest all seem to merge in generally the same group of young people.
He also mentioned that he is studying Communist brainwashing and the drug culture for over ten 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 his drug drive.
After some small talk, Elvis got down to business. "Mr. President, can you get me a badge from the Narcotics Bureau at large? Nixon nodded and said, “I’d like to do that, but I don’t know if we have such a thing”. Nixon told Krogh that he would like Elvis to receive a badge. “See if it’s possible that he gets one.”
Nixon patted Elvis on the shoulder and told him, “Well, I appreciate your willingness to help us out, Mr. Presley.”
Elvis was smiling triumphantly. "Thank you very much, sir. This means a lot to me."...Elvis then moved up
close to the President and, in a spontanous gesture, put his left arm around him and hugged him.
Nixon opened the left-hand drawer of his desk, which was where he kept gifts for visitors. Elvis could see the drawer held some Presidential tie clasps for men, and Presidential pendants for women. Not done yet, Elvis asked the president if he would see his friends Schilling and West: "It would mean a lot to them and to me." Schilling and West were ushered into the Oval Office. Nixon gave them the same tie clasps and cuff links with presidential seals that he had already given Elvis.
Elvis prompted Nixon: "You know, they've got wives too." Elvis and Nixon then rummaged through Nixon's desk for suitable presents for the wives.
After lunch in the White House mess and a tour of the White House, Elvis was presented with the BNDD badge by Finlator.
Elvis presented Nixon with a commemorative World War II-era Colt .45 pistol.
They took a series of formal pictures.
“Now I know why they call you Tricky Dicky,” Elvis said to the President jokingly.
Nixon, unshaken, shot back. “And now I know why they call you Elvis the Pelvis!”Regarding Elvis’ theatrical get-up.
Nixon told Presley, “You dress kind of strange, don’t you.”
Laughing, Elvis gave a classic reply. “Well, Mr. President, you got your show, and I got mine.”
Elvis, Sonny and Jerry left the White House and flew out of town without ever checking out of their hotel.
Elvis had recently gotten several death threats, and become obsessed about carrying a gun everywhere with him.
He wanted to be declared a Federal Agent so he and his bodyguards could legally carry small arms in every state in America. Nixon’s badge allowed them to do just that. Now, Elvis was legally empowered to protect himself, and carry on the fight for justice and "respecting the flag".
The Memphis Mafia all carried guns, too. Excessive drug use had made Elvis irrational and paranoid, and he kept saying he wouldn’t go anywhere without a gun.
Elvis usually kept a derringer in his boot, and carried another gun in his pocket. Sometimes two!
Elvis bought almost $20,000 worth of hand guns in 1970.
If you want to know more, you got to see the movie " ELVIS MEETS NIXON"!!!
Special thanks to:
Have you ever asked yourself "What would have happened if Elvis had survived on August 16th, 1977??"
