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Of all the requests made each year to the National Archives for reproductions of photographs and documents, one item has been requested more than any other. That item, more requested than the Bill of Rights or even the Constitution of the United States, is the photograph of Elvis Presley and Richard M. Nixon shaking hands on the occasion of Presley's visit to the White House.

The Meeting
The Documents
The Photos

The Meeting

On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley paid a visit to President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in Washington, D.C. The meeting was initiated by Presley, who wrote Nixon a six-page letter requesting a visit with the President and suggesting that he be made a "Federal Agent-at-Large" in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. The events leading up to and after the meeting are detailed in the documentation and photographs included here, which include Presley's handwritten letter, memoranda from Nixon staff and aides, and the thank-you note from Nixon for the gifts (including a Colt 45 pistol and family photos) that Presley brought with him to the Oval Office.

These materials chronicling the Presley-Nixon meeting were obtained from the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at the National Archives at College Park (College Park, Maryland).

The Documents

Note: The following documents are in PDF format.
You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.

Document 1: Handwritten Letter from Presley to Nixon, Undated

Document 2: Transcription of Presley letter, Undated

Document 3: Memorandum for H.R. Haldeman from Dwight L. Chapin, 21 December 1970

Document 4: Memorandum for the President, Re: Meeting with Elvis Presley, 21 December 1970

Document 5: Memorandum for the President's File from Egil "Bud" Krogh, Re: Meeting with Elvis Presley, 21 December 1970

Document 6: Message from (Bev) to (Lucy), Re: Presley's Gifts to the President

Document 7: Letter from Richard M. Nixon to Elvis Presley, 31 December 1970

Document 8: Memorandum from Egil "Bud" Krogh to Neal Ball, Re: Guidance on Jack Anderson Column-Elvis Presley, 27 January 1972

The Photos

The photos sets below are digital reproductions of contact sheets available at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. Click on the thumbnails to view each photo, and use the arrows to navigate through the entire collection.

Set 1: 22 photos of Nixon and Presley with White House aide Egil "Bud" Krogh.
Set 2: 6 photos of Presley and associates meeting with Nixon.
 

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