This
articel is about Elvis as the nationalist and the connections he had to
the White House. The artical was written by Tommy Udo and published in
VOX magazine in the August issue 1997.
Elvis the Traitor:
In the ´50s,
white God-fearing Republican America feared Elvis almost as much as they
feared communism. They needn't have worried. Elvis may have wiggled his
butt suggestively on TV, but deep down he was just as much of a small-minded
redneck, racist, flag-waving, red-meat-gorging, gun-loving, American-values
worshipping creep as the rest of them.
In 1970,
at the height of the Vietnam War, American society was polarised. Student
anti-war protesters were being gunned down by National Guardsmen; American
forces had launched an illegal, secret and undeclared war against neutral
Cambodia. The American Right were seeking to crush the gains of the civil
rights movement and the growing sense of sexual and political liberation.
Elvis nailed his colours firmly to the mast: he offered his services as
an establishment stooge.
"The
drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS [Students For A Democratic Society
- National Left Wing Anti-war Organisation Ed], the
Black Panthers etc... do not consider me as their enemy or, as they
call it, ´the establishment´," he wrote in a grovelling
letter to President
Richard Nixon, figurehead of the reactionary forces. "I call
it America and I love it."
The
White House
Elvis wanted
to meet Nixon and be made a ´Federal Agent At Large´ in the
Bureau Of Narcotics And Dangerous Drugs to "help the country out."
"I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and communist
brainwashing techniques," he wrote. "I am right in the middle
of th ewhole thing where I can, and will, do the most good."
Elvis
had certainly studied drug abuse in depth; he turned up at the
White House to meet Nixon on December 20, 1970 whacked off his face
on presciption amphetamines. He gave the President a commemorative World
War II Colt 45 pistol and some autographed pictures and showed him some
of his collection of police badges. Nixon responded by getting Presley
an FBI badge with his name on
it.
Whether
Elvis ever grassed anyone up to the Goverment is open to question; one
Elvis- was-murdered theory has the Mafia as a prime suspect because Presley
was investigating their influence in Las Vegas casinos.
But
the King never got in touch with the White House again, nor did he take
part in the proposed TV special in which he and other stars were to, as
the US National Security Agency
archives have it, "sing popular songs and interpret them for parents
in order to show drug and other anti-establishment themes in rock music."
Nordid he encourage fellow artists to develop a rock musical on the theme
"get high on life"; or record an album called ´Get High
On Life´at the Federal narcotic rehabilitation and research facility
in Kentucky; or act as a consultant
to the Advertising Counsil on how to communicate anti-drug messages to
youth - all of which were mooted by the White House staff.
Probably
Elvis only wanted the FBI badge for his collection and special agent status
to allow him to carry guns over State lines. As for President Nixon´s
war on drugs and the counter culture, for the most part, Elvis was just
to stoned to care.
Other related links: See Elvis and the F.B.I - links or Elvis
and Nixon - links under LINKS concerning
Elvis