‘Elvis & Nixon:’ It’s all about the badge!

Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon as the President and the King, respectively.

Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon as the President and the King, respectively.

One of the most requested White House photos: President Richard Nixon’s 1970 encounter with Elvis Presley.

One of the most requested White House photos: President Richard Nixon’s 1970 encounter with Elvis Presley.

By Cristina DC Pastor

Sometime in the Seventies, U.S. politics and pop culture intersected, resulting in one goofy moment in history: President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley meeting at the White House.

This encounter between the 37th president and the King of Rock and Roll was supposed to be a mere five minutes (because even Nixon found it to be a bizarre appointment), but it rolled on for hours with endless photo ops and autograph signing and Elvis and his friends showing off some karate chops to the leader of the free world.

“Elvis & Nixon,” the movie inspired by this epic moment, is entertaining as it is insightful. It showed, for example, how the two powerful figures are such loving fathers: Nixon was persuaded to agree to the meeting because his daughter Julie wants an autograph of Elvis, while Elvis brings out a photo of his only daughter Lisa Marie and shows it to Nixon.

The meeting happened in December 21, 1970, two years before the Watergate burglary scandal. While Nixon, before that, was largely respected for his diplomatic initiatives, such as opening relations with China, he was somewhat unpopular and had a reputation of being underhanded, hence the moniker ‘Tricky Dick.’

Elvis, as the movie plot opens, is looking to be credentialed as an undercover federal agent…with a badge. One day, he and two friends drive up to the White House asking to deliver a letter to President Nixon. The security officers at the gate are torn between upholding their duties and being star-struck. Because “it’s Elvis…Elvis Presley,” the letter is given special attention, instead of being deposited at a nearby mailbox. The handwritten letter finds its way to Bud Krogh, one of Nixon’s close-in aides and an unabashed Elvis fan.

Krogh and another aide try to convince Nixon to meet with Elvis and pump it for its potentially huge media reach. At the time, drugs was one of the raging issues, and Elvis with his legions of fans would be the best messenger of the administration’s anti-drug campaign, was how the aides pitched the idea to Nixon. Nixon agreed to a five-minute meeting not wanting it to eat into his nap hour.

Now why would Elvis want to be a federal agent with a badge?

He says in the movie that he is in the best position to infiltrate bands and their concerts and report back to the government on drug activities and he can also “infiltrate the communists and bust them all.” As an entertainer, he says he is an expert on costumes and disguise, and is licensed to carry firearms.

One of the humorous scenes in the film was Krogh instructing Elvis on protocol — where to sit, not to touch the M&M candies and not to drink the open Dr. Pepper — and Elvis violating all that.

The meeting lasts several hours with Elvis and Nixon posing for photos with their friends and staff, and sharing stories of how they rose from humble beginnings to get to where they are. Says Nixon, “From nothing, look where I am today, look where you are now.” The film reveals their shared love for M&M’s and a common dislike for the Beatles.

The movie is not out and out comedy, but the weirdness of the plot, which is a true episode in history, is enough to give the viewer a smile on entering the theatre. Kevin Spacey is terrific as Nixon with the receding hairline and slightly puffy cheeks. The famous shoulder hunch is very Nixon-esque especially when shot in silhouette. Michael Shannon as Elvis is near-perfect except for the heartthrob handsome face that Shannon does not possess. The soft voice and the karate gestures appear to be Elvis charisma personified.

Nixon and Elvis bond over nuts, M&M’s and Dr. Pepper.

Nixon and Elvis bond over nuts, M&M’s and Dr. Pepper.

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