--- title: Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon: The Story Behind the Photo description: In the 40th anniversary of the King of Rock 'n' Roll's death, here what to know about the famous picture of the King and the President. canonical: https://time.com/4894301/elvis-president-nixon-photo/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-15T14:00:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:09.574Z article:section: History og:title: Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon: The Story Behind the Photo og:description: It was, as of 2015 at least, the most-requested photograph in the entire U.S. National Archives. og:url: https://time.com/4894301/elvis-president-nixon-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ace4c05094b1406/6988d8bb0b72e36df46eef27/elvis-presley-president-nixon-gettyimages-3072025.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: President And King og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon: The Story Behind the Photo twitter:description: It was, as of 2015 at least, the most-requested photograph in the entire U.S. National Archives. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ace4c05094b1406/6988d8bb0b72e36df46eef27/elvis-presley-president-nixon-gettyimages-3072025.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Story Behind That Famous Photo of Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 'Elvis & Nixon' Featurette [Watch (HLS stream): 'Elvis & Nixon' Featurette](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OW0NxL1v.m3u8) (3:35)  _Published 2016-03-25. Kevin Space stars and Nixon and Michael Shannon as Elvis in the "untold true story."_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Aug 15, 2017 2:00 PM UTC  President Nixon and Elvis Presley meet at The White House, December 21, 1970. President Nixon and Elvis Presley meet at The White House, December 21, 1970. MPI/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Aug 15, 2017 2:00 PM UTC Though Elvis Presley’s music has largely been responsible for sustaining fans’ [burning love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2VYAtqRe0) for the 40 years that have passed since his Aug. 16, 1977, death, one of the [most popular photos](https://twitter.com/usnatarchives/status/55…) of the star is not an image of him performing. Instead, it was taken with Richard Nixon in the Oval Office at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, 1970 — and it was, [as of 2015 at least](https://twitter.com/USNatArchives/status/553220575599292416), the most-requested photograph in the entire U.S. National Archives. Both men were at the top in their careers at this point. As [_The Telegraph_ ](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/06/20/elvis--nixon--the-true-story-of-how-the-king-met-the-president/)has pointed out, Presley was in the middle of a successful comeback, selling out shows in Las Vegas and had just been nominated as one of the country’s Ten Outstanding Young Men by the United States Junior Chamber, an award he was[ particularly proud](https://www.graceland.com/blog/elvis-presleys-highest-honor/) to have received. Nixon, meanwhile, who had not yet been tainted by Watergate, was experiencing a wave of [popularity](http://historyinpieces.com/research/nixon-approval-ratings) for vowing to get America out of Vietnam and to [desegregate schools. ](https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2013/12/nixon-enforces-civil-rights/) But why did the King want to meet the President? When Presley had showed up that morning at the White House — decked out in a purple velvet suit, a gold belt and a Colt. 45 pistol — he came bearing a personal [letter](https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/nixon-met-elvis/assets/doc%5F1.1%5Ftranscript.html) to the President explaining his reasons. “I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good,” the 35-year-old singer wrote in the letter, which noted that young people see him as one of them, thus making him the perfect person to help fight the war on illegal drugs. “I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy.” Presley, a collector of police badges, wanted a badge from the [Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs](https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/170.html) and to be named a “Federal Agent at Large.” “The narc badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him,” Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ then-wife, wrote in her memoir _Elvis and Me_. “With the federal narcotics badge, he \[believed he\] could legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished.” The fact that there was no transcript of the meeting has left much to the imagination (as explored most recently in the 2016 film [_Elvis & Nixon_](http://time.com/4299360/review-spacey-shannon-elvis-nixon/)_,_ starring Kevin Spacey as Nixon and Michael Shannon as Elvis._)_ What is known about what happened in the meeting comes from a [memo](https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/nixon-met-elvis/assets/doc%5F3.1%5Ftranscript.html) that an aide who was in the room, [Egil “Bud” Krogh](https://www.washingtonpost.com/postlive/bud-krogh-on-going-to-jail/2012/06/11/gJQAcXrIWV%5Fvideo.html), wrote up: --- > “” --- The [badge](http://people.com/books/clint-hill-describes-the-time-elvis-presley-visited-richard-nixon-at-white-house/), aides later wrote, was an “honorary” one, but Elvis thought it was the real thing. Both men would face swift falls from grace in the mid-1970s, between Nixon resigning in 1974 and Presley’s reliance on prescription drugs — which, a former employee [later explained](http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/09/arts/purple-in-the-oval-office-you-can-t-make-this-up.html), he saw as separate from the illegal drugs he was so eager to help police — worsening in the lead-up to the heart attack that ultimately killed him. But the photograph would live on, as Nixon [might have put it](https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/elvis/docs/doc7.pdf), in the nation’s collection of special mementos. ## Transcript From 9: 20 to 11: 30 you have your meetings with Mister Haldeman, Mister Kissinger, Mister Ziegler. From 12: 05 to 1: 05 you have your open hour at the end of which we thought would be a good time to have your meeting with Mister Presley. Elvis Presley? Yes sir, the entertainer. I know who Elvis Presley is, yes. Who the [ SOUND ] set this up? Elvis and Nixon. Completely true story. Elvis Presley was concerned about the protests against the Vietnam War. Lack of respect for law enforcement. He was far more conservative than, a lot of People might of suspected. So he got on a plane, wrote a 6 page letter to President Richard Nixon, showed up on the White House gates at 6 in the morning, asked for this letter to be given to the president of the United States, and then went to a hotel until he was going to successfully get a meeting. The president. Which I never thought we would get there. He always did and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. And what he actually wanted was for the president of the Untied States to make him an undercover federal agent at large. He would also like a badge. A what? I could infiltrate the communists and then I'd bust them all. Let's do this thing. What I liked about this script is that it took very isolated instant and found a way to show you so much about who Elvis was. Elvis just wakes up one day, decides he's gonna go to the White House to get federal badge to fight narcotics [ LAUGH ]. Fine. Bring him in. And this famous coming together happened in which a [ MUSIC ] Very famous photograph was taken, and it is in fact the single most requested photograph from the national archives. Okay sir, do you have any firearms or weapons of any kind on your person. [ SOUND ] Good thing they didn't catch this little fella in my boot. There is a series of things Elvis is told he should not do. On the coffee table is a dish with M & M's, those are only for the President. And then he basically breaks everyone of those rules cuz Now he's Elvis Presley. M & M's are my favorite. Mine too. Kevin Spacey is a force. There is no doubt about that. He was an amazing Nixon. The character that Colin plays is one of our advisors, so he was on set, and I'll never forget the day he arrived and literally grabs his chest because he said it was as if Richard Nixon walked back in the room. Not to mention Alex Pettyfer who plays me. He has so much love for Elvis, all the insight that he had to give me was just through the stories he would tell. I like that, that's good. The chance to work with Michael Shannon who is just a consummate actor. Who became so Elvis like. I tried to make sure I didn't get too caught up in the impersonation and that I devoted as much energy to contemplating what was going inside of him as I did to trying to seem like him on the outside. He just killed me a couple of times. Come on harder, harder, let it out, let it out. Those are the steel claws of a tiger Mr. President. I don't think this is like an Elvis anyone's seen before. It's not a let's make fun of Elvis and Nixon, it's a let's have fun with Elvis and Nixon. They began to realize that they were far more aligned than they could have imagined. You and me. And you rose from nothing, but look where I am today, look where you are. That's half the fun, too, is watching how that develops. Ultimately thinking we'll end up finding out more about him, through this story, than you would if someone tried to tell you His entire life story. It's just so crazy. But that's the fun of the run. Thank you. Thank you very much. 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