When the King met Tricky Dicky
It was one of the most unusual meetings ever witnessed within the historic walls of the White House. On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley, the biggest star in the world, met Richard Nixon, one of America’s least liked presidents. It was a collision of opposites in a number of ways, not least dress code, with the King in his indelible version of Las Vegas casual - crushed velvet frock-coat, flapping lapels, outsized gold buckle and aviator glasses, versus Nixon’s standard grey man attire of non-descript polyester suit and tie.
Elvis wanted to help the President with “the drug problem and the hippie elements”, and brought along an antique handgun as a token of his esteem. As the biggest star in the world, the King was accustomed to getting anything his heart desired - but all he wanted from the most powerful man in the world was a badge making him an ‘honorary’ agent of the Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs - and if it took the President of the United States to get it for him, that’s exactly where he was going to go.
It was to prove an ironic request given how his own drug addictions were spiralling out of control at the time, and would eventually consume him. The photograph of that famous meeting between the president whom the press would later label ‘Tricky Dicky’, and the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ remains to this day the most requested image in the US National Archives - surpassing even the Moon Landing, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
Given that neither Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon bear much of a physical likeness to Nixon or Elvis, the fact that they both inhabit those historic personalities says much for their acting talent. With neither electing to overdo the histrionics of either the singer or the sinner, Spacey and Shannon make for an effective pairing in one of the year’s more unusual films so far. Alex Pettyfer and Johnny Knoxville as Elvis’ accompanying ‘Memphis Mafia’ Jerry and Sonny, and playwright Tracy Letts as a government functionary John Finlator, add perfectly to the supporting cast.
Colin Hanks is another gem as White House press secretary Ergil Krogh, who saw the political capital of these two icons meeting in an election year, and Tate Donovan stars as Bob Haldeman, the feared Chief of Staff, nicely rounding out a solid acting crew. Director Liza Johnson keeps what is really a simple moment of history humming along - helped greatly by the relatively short screening time of 86 minutes. Half a century later, that iconic photograph of Nixon and the King remains the most frequently requested at the National Archives. The King of Cool and the Prince of Paranoia in the same room - and the strangest handshake in White House history.
The movie is currently on release.