What if Nixon had Appointed Elvis to his Cabinet?

It’s the most requested photo in the National Archives.  The story has been made into a movie, a book, a legend.  But what if?

One December afternoon in 1969, President Richard Nixon was surprised to learn that Elvis Presley had dropped by the White House.  “The King” just wanted to tell the president that he was “on your side.”  Elvis added that he had done “an in depth study of drug abuse and Communist brain washing techniques,” and might, being Elvis, help Nixon reach young people.

Nixon was grateful, especially for the photo op.  But the president never took The King up on his offer.  What if he had? What if Nixon had created a new cabinet post?

SECRETARY OF COOL?

Never mind that, despite his recent comback, Elvis had not been “cool” since the late Fifties.  Did Nixon know that?  Did Elvis?  So imagine Elvis diving into the job.

Suddenly, there’s Elvis in his white jumpsuit, talking to youth about the danger of marijuana and LSD.  And there’s Elvis on the front lines of the Cold War, battling communism by singing “You’re the Devil in Disguise.”

Look out, America!  Had Elvis followed that dream, “cool” might never have been the same.  The children of the Sixties would not have given this icon of the Fifties the slightest credence, yet Elvis would have left the White House, at least, “all shook up.”  Imagine:

— Elvis crooning at a cabinet meeting, bringing the future Watergate crowd to their feet.  Then throwing them his scarf.

— Elvis campaigning for Nixon in ‘72, telling the “silent majority” that “It’s Now or Never.”  George McGovern had his celebrities, but Nixon would have had. . . Elvis.

— Elvis making one more movie, “King Cool,” where he belts out songs between lectures about drugs and communist brain washing.

— Finally, if he stays on the job, imagine the Secretary of Cool telling the White House Plumbers that breaking and entering is not only illegal. It’s not “cool.” History might have been changed.

But the president never gave The King a chance.  Nixon’s cabinet remained tight-lipped, buttoned down, more inclined towards Sinatra or Big Bands than “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Secretary of Cool?  Who knows, the cabinet post might have since hosted fading icons from Michael Jackson to Madonna.  Sadly, we’ll just have to settle for “what if?”