The King Rocked the White House When He Rolled In

The Richard Nixon presidential years were, of course, tumultuous times. There was Watergate, and the country was torn over Vietnam. But perhaps Nixon’s most incredible day at the White House was Dec. 20, 1970. That was the day the president met the king.

Richard Nixon shaking hands with Elvis Presley in the Oval Office is the most requested photograph in the history of the National Archives, its staff reports. The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda still displays the commemorative World War II Colt .45 pistol and its bullets that Elvis gave the president as a gift on that visit.

Today is Elvis’ birthday; he would have been 63. To do a little commemorating of our own, revisit with me that historic day through the eyes of the only person left alive who attended the meeting.

Egil “Bud” Krogh, a White House assistant who is now a Seattle international law attorney, has retold the Presley-Nixon story so many times he decided to put it in a book, “The Day Elvis Met Nixon.”

In a telephone interview this week, Krogh told me that the Elvis visit was “the most bizarre, illogical day I ever spent at the White House. Who says Republicans can’t have fun?”

Presley showed up alone, and unannounced, at the White House gates that morning with a letter for the president. He wanted to help Nixon with his war on drugs, but he also wanted something in return.

Because Krogh was the White House point man on drug issues, Elvis’ request got dumped in his lap. When he invited Elvis to come meet him first, the king showed up with two bodyguards.

The background was this: Elvis, a zealous collector of police badges, wanted a badge that would make him a special federal agent. He’d already been politely turned down by a federal narcotics official. So Elvis simply went to the top. He took off for the White House.

“I was a huge Elvis fan,” Krogh said. “When he showed up, we saw this as a golden opportunity to help get our drug message out.”

A noon meeting with the president was quickly arranged. Elvis’ bodyguards waited outside. Krogh writes that Elvis “seemed to be awed if not overwhelmed” by the Oval Office.

Nixon must have been a little overwhelmed himself. Elvis wore a dark purple cape, silver-rimmed dark glasses, a gold medallion around his neck and a huge gold belt buckle.

Elvis showed the president some family pictures he had brought. (The gift gun and its bullets had been held at the door by the Secret Service.)

Then they talked about the drug problem. Krogh quotes Elvis as saying: “I can go right into a group of hippies and young people and be accepted.” Nixon kept agreeing but urged Elvis “not to lose your credibility.”

Nixon told Krogh to see to it that Elvis got some kind of federal narcotics badge. (He wound up with an “advisory position” badge, which satisfied him.)

Then, Elvis asked the president if he could invite in his two bodyguards, Sonny West and Jerry Schilling. West has written in his own Presley book that Elvis told them: “Now the president has got something for y’all.”

The next scene is actually comical: Nixon digging White House souvenirs for the three out of a desk drawer. Then, Elvis told Nixon: “Remember, Mr. President, they’ve got wives too.”

Elvis and the president then began fishing through the souvenir drawer together to see what else they could come up with. Tie clasps, pens, golf balls and cuff links were laid out on the desk. Writes Krogh: “After the raid on the drawer, Elvis, Sonny and Jerry had their hands full. They all seemed delighted.”

Krogh later took the three to lunch at the White House mess. He told me in our phone interview: “Elvis struck me as very sincere, and deeply patriotic to his country. He really did want to help us.”

But sadly, it never came to pass. The White House never followed up by getting Elvis involved in its drug war.

Elvis the Cop: Don’t think Elvis didn’t put his badge to use. Sonny West writes that Elvis once tried to track down a suspected thief in his entourage who was leaving town on a plane. “Elvis raced out on the damned tarmac as the plane was taxiing for a takeoff. Elvis just ran right up to the cockpit and flashed his badge that President Nixon gave him.”

The plane stopped but Elvis’ man was not aboard.

Two Shop Exclusive: The Krogh book on Elvis sells for $18.95 and can be bought in only two places: the Nixon Library and Graceland, the Presley estate in Memphis, Tenn.

Wrap-Up: After Krogh was kind enough to give me his time to talk about the Elvis visit, it didn’t seem right to ask, “By the way, you were kind of a scoundrel in those days, weren’t you?”

Egil “Bud” Krogh is an important name in the history of the Watergate scandal. Krogh, you might recall, was co-director of what was called the “Plumbers’ Unit.” Among their misdeeds: breaking into the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. Krogh wound up pleading guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison, but he wound up serving less than six months.

I wasn’t comfortable bringing it up, but I was also uncomfortable ignoring it. Fortunately for me, it was Krogh who mentioned it first.

“What happened to the Nixon administration can only be viewed as a tragedy,” he said. “Many of us were very loyal to the president, but we did not always serve him well.”

Krogh said that he and some of his White House colleagues were perhaps too young for their responsibilities. Krogh was in his early 30s. He never gave a thought, he said, that what the Plumbers were doing was illegal: “We never asked any of the questions we should have asked.”

On the road to recovery, Krogh said, “First, it was important for those of us involved to face facts, that what we did was wrong. Having our hearts in the right place didn’t excuse what we did.”

Krogh was able to get his attorney’s license reinstated after his prison term. He added:

“I think most of us have learned from our mistakes. We’ve tried to go on to lead productive lives.”

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com