Famous Phone Pals: Elvis, Nixon

Friendship apparently meant more to Elvis Presley than politics. Egil "Bud" Krogh, the presidential aide who was convicted of running Richard Nixon's "plumber" unit and who also guided Elvis around the White House on Dec. 21, 1970, reveals that the King and the former president kept in touch even after Watergate forced Nixon from office. Krogh, who is updating his The Day Elvis Met Nixon with the new revelation, says Elvis phoned Nixon in 1974 when the ex-prez was suffering from life-threatening phlebitis. "Something obviously happened when they met," says Krogh, whose latest book, Integrity, is a primer on how to ethically serve a president. "They liked each other very much." And Nixon returned the favor when Elvis fell ill. "Nixon was a defender of Elvis," Krogh tells us.