It was Christmas time and Elvis was unhappy. He was in the middle of a comeback. Las Vegas was in the palm of his hand thanks a series of sold out shows and he was nominated as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men by the United States Junior Chamber, which is quite the achievement for a 35-year-old. But his family wouldn't get off his back. His father, Vernon, and his wife, Priscilla, thought that he was spending too much on Christmas presents. He'd already dropped more than $100,000 on guns and cars for his friends and family but no one was happy with him. He had to get away.

Elvis went to the Memphis airport and bought a ticket on the first flight out of town. After landing in Washington D.C. he checked into a hotel room and realized what he'd done. He walked out on his family at the most wonderful time of the year and traveled to the nation's capitol. He flew to Los Angeles at three that morning, at least he had a mansion on the west coast. A day later he realized something, if he returned to Washington D.C. and spoke with the president he could get his hands on a badge that listed him as a federal narcotics agent, and then he could carry drugs through an airport. Elvis flew back to Washington D.C. on the red eye. Sitting in first class, he wrote a letter to President Nixon.

Elvis was obsessed with badges, not just how they looked but what they could accomplish. He felt that if he had a badge that was actually from the federal government he'd be unstoppable, or at the very least more credible while carrying thousands of dollars worth of drugs and handguns from place to place. He hoped to be named "Federal Agent at Large."

On the plane from Los Angeles Elvis wrote an impassioned plea to the president. He wrote of drugs and his distaste for Communism, and most of all he wrote that he was the one person who could save the youth of America:

I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good... I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy.

President Nixon wasn't a fan of Elvis. Not only was Nixon not a fan but he didn't know why some yahoo from Memphis wanted to sit down with him. When Elvis slipped his note through the White House gates Nixon was in the middle of orchestrating a deal to have American POWs released from Cambodia before he agreed to pull troops from the area. His treasury secretary was retiring, and he was trying to push Congress to work until the last minute before the Christmas holiday. He didn't have time to meet The King.

But what if this meeting with someone from the "counter culture" could make him look cool in the eyes of young people? Nixon wondered if he could broaden his voter base and connect with young voters through a photo-op with Presley. He agreed to a sit down.

Elvis showed up at the White House around noon wearing the most Elvis outfit he could find; a purple velvet suit cordoned off at the waist with a massive gold belt buckle. He brought a Colt. 45 pistol mounted in a display case as a gift for Nixon. The Secret Service held onto that. Nixon's surreptitious recording devices had yet to be installed so there's no recording or even a transcript of what these two talked about, but Nixon's aide, Egil "Bud" Krogh, took notes on the entire conversation.

According to Krogh, Nixon hoped Presley would help him speak to the youth of America, but the increasingly paranoid Elvis wanted the meeting kept a secret. Instead of talking about expanding Nixon's voter base Presley preferred to talk about how the Beatles created anti-American sentiment with their music. Krogh writes that no matter what Nixon said Presley found a way to bring the conversation back to Communism and brainwashing. He offered his services as an undercover agent. Who else was better to infiltrate a group of dope headed long hairs that the King himself? Nixon demurred and told Presley that it was important for him to retain his credibility. Touched by this, Presley wrapped his arms around Nixon and gave him a hug.

When everything was said and done Elvis told Nixon that he was on his side before making the request that drove him to the White House in the first place, a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Krogh says that Nixon asked, "Can we get him a badge?" They could, and so it was done. The badge was honorary but Elvis told everyone that it was the real deal. Photos of the event were kept under wraps for years, with the meeting itself remaining hidden until Presley's death from a drug overdose in 1977.