There they were. The President and The King. Richard Nixon, President of the United States, and Elvis Presley, both smiling for the camera. Nixon looked very happy. After all, he might have reasoned, this could help with the youth vote. Nixon knew the backing of America’s young was important, yet difficult to claim when sending so many of them to war. Not surprisingly, Nixon’s perspective on the early ’70s youth vote proved hazy. While young people were thinking Woodstock, Presley was playing Las Vegas. That represents more difference in values than in distance. Still, even without a political pay-off for Nixon, the hastily arranged Oval Office meeting on December 21, 1970 made for a great footnote in 20th century American history. Two men, with little in common, but perhaps the two best-known men in America at the time, discussed the nation’s challenges, getting on quite easily.
"Presley glided into the Oval Office like someone who had a check to cover the national debt." Perfect!