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The Photo: While you probably recognize the iconic photo of Elvis meeting Nixon in 1970, you might not know the exact reason for the visit. Elvis desperately wanted to become an undercover agent. Concerned about increased drug use in America, he petitioned Nixon in a handwritten letter proposing he be named a “Federal Agent at Large.” Elvis wrote, “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 Visit: Elvis then showed up at the White House unannounced, packing two handguns—one for protection, the other as a gift for the president. After some thinking, officials let him inside with both guns in tote. At the extensively photographed meeting, Elvis showed Nixon his family photos and a collection of law enforcement badges. Later, Nixon awarded him a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge, which listed Elvis’ position as “Special Assistant.”
The Crazy Conspiracy: Soon after Elvis’ White House visit, the FBI gave him permits to carry firearms in every state so that he could take care of business whenever the mood struck. Pretty remarkable, considering that earlier in Elvis’ career, J. Edgar Hoover had the FBI track the singer extensively. In fact, his FBI file ran more than 600 pages. This has led conspiracy theorists to suggest that Elvis finally got his Federal Agent wish in 1977, faking his own death in order to go undercover.
This article originally appeared in the May-June 2007 issue of mental_floss magazine.
Comments (12)
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This brings back memories! I wrote this for Scatterbrained on an airplane in early 2007, after a visit to my uncle’s house. My uncle is a supreme Elvis fan and gave me a suitcase full of Elvis trivia books after hearing I had an assignment to write about the man, the legend, the Elvis.
For my high school graduation, my uncle gave me a “TCB” pencil which I still have on my desk, in my pencil jar. He also gave me some money, but I still have the pencil, you see.
posted by Chris Higgins on 11-17-2009 at 3:00 pm
This is one of the least crazy theories. No aliens, no scientology :)
posted by Bakedpotatoes on 11-17-2009 at 3:24 pm
Maybe this is why everyone seems to claim to see him everywhere, he’s still out there!
posted by Sarah in CA on 11-17-2009 at 3:50 pm
I love that Elvis just showed up at the White House one afternoon unannounced, and the Secret Service pretty much thought, “Well, I’m not gonna turn him away, it’s Elvis!” So then they let him in. With two guns. Only the King.
posted by taylor on 11-17-2009 at 4:52 pm
Elvis is a vampire!
posted by Leslie on 11-17-2009 at 5:26 pm
Elvis showed up at my house unannounced with two guns.
I wasn’t supposed to say anything…
He enjoys Glee!, Shasta Cola, and Flamin’ Cheetos.
posted by holly on 11-18-2009 at 12:36 am
A true badass. i don’t care who you are. Elvis will always be the king!
posted by diane on 11-18-2009 at 8:43 am
My favorite Elvis conspiracy “proof” is to take the date he died, 8/16/1977 and add the digits together to get 2001–the theme from the movie which he used to open his concerts!
HE SENT US A MESSAGE!!! :)
posted by Wayne on 11-18-2009 at 9:57 am
If anyone has ever gone to the gift shop at the National Archives, you can get tons of stuff with this picture on it. It’s apparently the most popular picture they have.
posted by Jim on 11-18-2009 at 11:00 am
Great article. How about one on Elvis conspiracies? Just reading these comments, I’m curious about them.
posted by Fran on 11-18-2009 at 2:06 pm
must be nice to do all the drugs you want and have an fbi badge to do it and pretend like you are trying to help the country with our drug problems when you do drugs yourself and fake your death because your rich enough to pay everyone off this is the land of the free i guess if your rich enough you can do anything in this country
posted by april on 11-28-2009 at 2:37 pm
elvis was just playing nixon to take himself off the radar, he was probobly high as hell on a bunch of different random drugs when he showed up to the white house that day. the whole wanting to stop drug use and communist brainwashing thing was definitely all bullshit.
posted by bill on 12-20-2009 at 9:37 pm