Free Essay - Elvis Presley's Letter to Richard Nixon

Elvis's letter to Nixon in 1970 was cultivated by his desire to make an agent fight drug abuse as well as Communist brainwashing techniques. Presley had shown up at the White House on December 21, 1970, to personally deliver a letter to the White House (The Guardian, 2016). The letter was written by Elvis while on the American Airlines stationery and was comprised of five pages that requested the president for a meeting so that he could present him with a gift of a pistol used in the Second World War era and also be given the credentials of a federal agent so that he could help on the war on drugs. He stated that he had a great knowledge of drugs, influence on the young people and also had been studying Communist brainwashing for more than ten years hence he was suitable for the job. He also added that he had so much knowledge on the hippies hence he could go right into the group which could help him in the drug drive.

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Presley had two key aspects of the American society that he references which are; drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques. He had done an in-depth study of these aspects of the society and was a collector of police badges, and then he wanted to get a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs so that he could be named a Federal Drug Agent at Large (The Guardian, 2016). He believed that the badge would give him power as he could legally enter any country with guns and also carrying any drugs that he wished. He indicated that he was on the side of the president and wanted to help in restoring some respect or the flag that had been lost through the various issues that were facing the society at that time.

During the period that Elvis met President Nixon, many Americans shared Elvis's opinion that the president was determined to deal with different aspects of the American Society that problematic at that time. They believed that American society needed the contribution of every citizen to reclaim the glory and pride of the country. Many Americans thought that President Nixon had started his presidency with a wonderful performance as compared to all other post-World War II presidents, but lost control on the way hence the drop of his approval ratings. President Nixon's reputation had been tainted by the Watergate scandal hence was experiencing a wave of popularity from the American people for vowing to remove the American soldiers out of Vietnam and to designate schools. Elvis and other Americans believed that the president and the entire administration would use Elvis's fame and influence since he could reach all the people especially the youth. He would give a speech on the singing stage that would reach many kids in his unique way.

The Nixon administration had numerous achievements and also many scandals that led to his downfall. President Nixon was a Republican who was elected the president in 1968 and re-elected in the year 1972 but left office amidst a scandal in 1974 and numerous allegations of criminal involvement in the Watergate scandal (Feldstein, 2004). His major achievements include; foreign policies such as the new era of U.S - Chinese relations, Vietnamization of the Vietnam War, New Federalism and the implementation of the Philadelphia plan which became the first affirmative action legislation.

References

Feldstein, M. (2004). Watergate Revisited. American Journalism Review, 60-71. Retrieved from: http://merrill.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Watergate-Revisited.pdf

The Guardian, (2016). Elvis Presley's Letter to Richard Nixon, 1970. The Observer. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/interactive/2013/oct/12/elvis-presley-richard-nixon-letter