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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014
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I have always been extremely indignant about the ignorant remarks which have been made regarding the visit which Elvis paid to Pres. Nixon in the White House in December, 1970. I have seen and heard self-proclaimed experts make all kinds of crazy assertions about Elvis being on drugs when he visited Pres. Nixon. I KNOW this is not the truth. I just finished reading a very enlightening book by Mr. Darrin Lee dedicated to this one topic…Elvis’ visit with Pres. Nixon. I won’t copy and use a lot of what Mr. Lee has written…but I will say that he has certainly done his homework and put the blame squarely on the shoulders of those who first originated this lie about Elvis.
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Mr. Lee then proceeds to refute the lies in a very concise and systematic manner which I thoroughly admire and enjoyed reading. I so highly recommend that every Elvis fan read Mr. Lee’s book…the title of which and details of the book shall be shown within this article.
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You may recall that I have touched upon this subject before when I used a few excerpts from a book by Paul Lichter titled: Elvis Presley Behind Closed Doors. In this book, Mr. Lichter also furnished proof that the drug stories about Elvis during his visit to the White House were totally untrue. I displayed some of Mr. Lichter’s proof in my previous article.
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Mr. Lee furnishes many instances of the outlandish lies which were told in the media. Of course, one of the earliest and most distasteful pieces of trash about this topic was from a book by Albert Goldman who was not worthy to lick the soles of Elvis’s shoes. As you will recall, I have expressed the disdain which all Elvis fans should feel for this little worm of a human being. Goldman and Geraldo are largely responsible for the public’s mistaken impressions of Elvis. Many others in the media have just parroted the lies which were made public by these two ignorant and inept author and “investigator”. If a lie is told often enough, it becomes accepted as the truth. Sadly, this is what has happened with the most patriotic mission set out upon by Elvis…and about many other areas of Elvis’ life.
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One person in the media for whom I have always had a lot of respect is Mr. Bill O’Reilly and I have heard him say some very kind things about Elvis. So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned, while reading Mr. Lee’s book, that Mr. O’Reilly had actually passed along the tired old lies about Elvis and his meeting with Pres. Nixon. Below is an excerpt from Mr. Lee’s book regarding Mr. O’Reilly’s ignorant and mistaken comment:
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Bill O’Reilly received his Bachelors from Marist College and Masters from Boston University. He is the author of Culture Warrior and host of cable TV’s highest rated news program – The O’Reilly Factor. Mr. O’Reilly prides himself on being fair and balanced and is a fan, having once told a guest that he thought Elvis was “the best entertainer ever,” so it was sorely disappointing to sit through the conversation that followed one of his program’s Great American Culture Quiz questions. Elvis Presley met with President Nixon to discuss what topic?
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A. Ann-Margret
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B. Drug Enforcement
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C. Rock Lyrics
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D. Supporting the Military
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Participants Martha MacCallum & Steve Doocy correctly selected “B,” then Mr. O’Reilly remarked: “Elvis, under the influence of a powerful hallucinogenic, wanted to become a DEA Agent and Nixon had no idea who Elvis was. So he gave him a badge.” Intended as a joke or not , a worldwide TV audience of two million were told by a serious newsman that a hallucinogenic fueled the events of 21st December 1970.
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Lee, Darrin (2012-10-22). The Media And Academia’s All-Out Assault On Elvis Presley & President Nixon: Defeated! (Kindle Locations 263-264). EP & MJ Books. Kindle Edition.
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I won’t quote nor display any more of the many ignorant comments and out and out lies which have been made “common knowledge” by people who know scarcely anything about the man behind the image ELVIS. Mr. Lee did an excellent job of presenting these in his book. Again, I admire that Mr. Lee has done such a diligent and time consuming job of compiling the details.
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The following excerpt from Mr. Lee’s book is a portion of the letter which Pres. Nixon wrote as an introduction to a wonderful book about the visit of Elvis in the White House by Mr. Bud Krogh. You may recall that I have a page on my web site devoted to the topic of that letter because Pres. Nixon made a very telling playful joke which I believe stemmed from Pres. Nixon’s knowledge that Elvis was (and is) still alive. Pres. Nixon wrote that letter one week before he passed away.
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- “I am pleased to be able to congratulate Bud Krogh on the publication of The Day Elvis Met Nixon. When we met in the Oval Office in December 1970 I was greatly impressed by Elvis’ sincerity.”
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Lee, Darrin (2012-10-22). The Media And Academia’s All-Out Assault On Elvis Presley & President Nixon: Defeated! (Kindle Locations 317-319). EP & MJ Books. Kindle Edition.
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Mr. Lee correctly reported in his book that Mr. Krogh refused to sell Elvis out. This is proven by the excellent book which he published and which I have highly recommended before on my site. Mr. Lee writes:
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On 10th October 2000 the PBS TV series Frontline interviewed Egil “Bud” Krogh (former Deputy Assistant to President Nixon for Domestic Affairs) and one of the questions was about the King’s visit to the White House. He replied: “Elvis Presley [was] dressed in a purple jumpsuit and a white shirt open to the navel with a big gold chain and thick-rimmed sunglasses. He came in and I must say I was very impressed with him.”
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Lee, Darrin (2012-10-22). The Media And Academia’s All-Out Assault On Elvis Presley & President Nixon: Defeated! (Kindle Locations 321-326). EP & MJ Books. Kindle Edition.
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On 7th January 2007 the Memphis Commercial Appeal printed a UPI story by the Orange County Register’s Ms. Sushma Subramanian titled, “Nixon Library to show clothing Elvis wore in legendary Oval Office visit.” In response to the comment, “Some have speculated Elvis Presley was under the influence of drugs during his 1970 meeting with President Nixon,” Mr. Krogh immediately shot it down: “I never had any idea he had a prescription drug problem.”
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Lee, Darrin (2012-10-22). The Media And Academia’s All-Out Assault On Elvis Presley & President Nixon: Defeated! (Kindle Locations 327-334). EP & MJ Books
- On 9th January 2007 CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips spoke with Mr. Krogh:
“At any time did you think, wow, this is strange, he is meeting with Nixon wanting to help America fight drugs and here he was possibly on drugs at that time?” Mr. Krogh: “Well, I didn’t see anything, Kyra. I didn’t see anything that I thought would mean he was high on drugs at the time. I thought it was an authentic, sincere, honest effort to try to help the country out, help the President and I really liked him.” In the face of media bait, the truth prevails.
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Lee, Darrin (2012-10-22). The Media And Academia’s All-Out Assault On Elvis Presley & President Nixon: Defeated! (Kindle Locations 335-341). EP & MJ Books. Kindle Edition.