Elvis Said ‘Screw Him’ About a Politician He Once Met
Elvis Presley had enough star power that he was able to meet with high-ranking politicians with very little scheduling in advance. He appeared at the White House to meet Richard Nixon and he had his sights set on gifting Spiro Agnew a gun. Not long afterward, Elvis wanted nothing to do with Agnew.
Elvis turned on a politician he once met
Elvis liked surrounding himself with authority figures like law enforcement and politicians. Therefore, when he heard Agnew was in Palm Springs, he made it a point to meet with him. He was intent on giving Agnew a gift.
“The Vice-President was staying in Palm Springs when Elvis was there,” bodyguard Sonny West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “Anyway, he set up a meeting with him. We all went to the house he was staying at and Elvis had bought a gold inlaid .357 Magnum revolver. It cost about two thousand dollars. Anyway, he goes into the house to present the gun to him and stayed talking to him for about half an hour.”
Agnew declined the gift, saying that as an elected official he could not accept it. After Agnew resigned in disgrace following evidence of political corruption, West told Elvis the former Vice President could now accept the gun. Elvis no longer wanted to give it up.
“No, screw him,” Elvis said. “He got caught as a crook.”
Elvis was thrilled to meet another politician
Before this, Elvis met with Richard Nixon while he was the president. He took off for D.C. without telling anyone and decided to try to set up a meeting with him.
“Elvis was never much of a letter writer, but he now wrote President Nixon a letter explaining how he could assist the youth of today in getting off drugs,” Priscilla Presley wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “It was an impassioned plea, mistakes hastily scratched out and corrected as he poured out his thoughts.”
He dropped off the letter at the White House and, later that day, had a meeting scheduled with the president. This time, Elvis encouraged Nixon to give himself, his bodyguards, and their wives presents. He used their meeting to speak about youth drug use and rail against The Beatles.
He loved giving people gifts
The fact that Elvis wanted to give Angew a $2,000 gift is not surprising. He loved giving people presents, no matter how expensive or extravagant. He purchased his entourage cars, houses, and horses for friends. Elvis even gave presents to complete strangers.
“If he could put a smile on someone’s face, that made him the happiest,” his fiancée, Ginger Alden, told Smashing Interviews. “He loved giving gifts to other people and surprising them with gifts. He would get really hurt if you didn’t accept a gift. Maids, housekeepers, nurses … I don’t know how many people have brand new homes and cars. He was so generous to so many.”
