Ex-Nixon Aide Recalls the Day That Elvis Dropped In

YORBA LINDA —  Egil (Bud) Krogh was a fan of Elvis Presley and White House aide to Richard Nixon. Now he is the only surviving member of the Oval Office summit on Dec. 21, 1970, when the king of rock ‘n’ roll met the President of the United States.

Krogh, 55, recounted that noon-hour meeting Saturday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, answering questions and signing copies of his book, “The Day Elvis Met Nixon.” “(The odds are) probably a million to one that anybody could drive up, hand a letter in to (request to) see the President and have a meeting with him three hours later. It never happens,” said Krogh, whose administrative responsibilities at the time included drug control policy development.

Presley gave a White House guard a six-page letter written on American Airlines stationery, and Krogh--moved by the missive’s sincerity and authenticity--met Presley in a screening interview. Presley indicated he wanted to help in the war on drugs, and Krogh decided Nixon and Presley, who was wearing a purple, crushed velvet suit with a cape, gold chains and belt, should meet.

The only other person present throughout the meeting was White House photographer Ollie Atkins.

“My overriding responsibility was with drug abuse, and we had a major heroin problem,” Krogh said, adding that Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix had recently died from drug overdoses. “To have him show up and say he was here to help was a godsend.”

The conversation between Nixon and Presley was scattered, Krogh said, straying from what had been discussed in the screening. But his intent was clear: He wanted to help the Administration “in his own way” in the war on illegal drugs.

He also requested a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs--which he had been denied earlier in the day by its deputy director, John Finlator.

“I’d like to do that,” Nixon said to Krogh. “See that he gets one.”

The half-hour meeting ended with Presley’s two bodyguards arriving to meet the President. Elvis asked Nixon for keepsakes for the pair and their wives. Krogh and the three guests then departed to the basement for lunch.

“Some of my days on the White House staff wouldn’t fit the description of fun,” Krogh said. “This was one of the most upbeat, positive, fun workdays I had.”