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Elvis, Nixon, and Learning to Take Initiative · The Daily Writer

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, welcome to this episode of the Daily Writer.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for writing success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you were to guess what the most requested image is in the National Archives, what would your guess be?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Would it be something related to the moon landings?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe something historic related to World War II or the Civil War?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe something from the turn of the century?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you guessed any of those things, then you would be wildly off base.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: The most requested photo in the National Archives was taken on December 21st, 1970, in the Oval Office at the White House, and it shows Richard Nixon shaking hands with Elvis Presley, who was wearing one of his famous jumpsuits along with a giant gold belt buckle, as he did a lot, especially in the 1970s.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now you might wonder how in the world did these two famous figures end up in the same image shaking hands, and what in the world does that have to do with writing?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's tackle the first question first.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: On December 19th, 1970, Elvis Presley abruptly left Graceland and flew to California to meet his good friend Jerry Schilling, who joined him on a flight to Washington, D.C.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And there they were met by another of Elvis' friends named Sonny West.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Elvis often did things like this on a whim, and this time he had decided that he wanted to get a DEA badge.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, DEA, if you don't know, stands for Drug Enforcement Agency.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's the badge that proved that you were basically a narc for the government.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: You were a narcotics agent.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Elvis had always been a big supporter of law enforcement, and he often collected badges from police and other officers when he went out on tour.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was just something that he was interested in.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And because he was he was actually in the service in the late 1950s, Elvis was always a big supporter of things like that, military, uh police officers, and so forth.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And despite his image as a rebellious rock and roll star, Elvis was actually quite conservative in many ways.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it bothered him that the problem of illegal drugs was getting out of hand in the country, and he wanted to do something about it.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So his solution, as crazy as it sounds, was to become an undercover drug enforcement officer for the U.S.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: government.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he felt that his status as a public figure could help lend support to the fight against illegal drugs.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, he just wanted to collect badges as well.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it all kind of really came together in this one totally spurred the moment kind of a trip.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, first of all, Elvis started with the powers that be in Washington, D.C.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: to try and get his badge.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So he struck out with them and then he decided to go straight to the White House to seek an impromptu meeting with the president himself, Richard Nixon.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Elvis directed his limo to pull up to the White House gates at 6 a.m.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: and he gave a handwritten letter requesting the meeting to the guards there at the White House gates, and he asked them to pass it along to the president.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And at first, he was rebuffed by the guards, but later in the day, Elvis received the call at his hotel that the meeting was actually going to be happening.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yes, Elvis did meet with Richard Nixon that day.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And no, Richard Nixon was not anticipating that when his day began, but it did happen, and Elvis did get his DEA badge that day.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he was immensely proud of it, and he was really excited to show it to his family and friends when he got back to Memphis after that trip.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: So now for our second question, what in the world does this crazy story have to do with writers?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it all comes down to taking initiative to get what you want.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want a podcast?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want a book deal?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to write a book series or your first novel?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to be a full-time writer?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: What specifically do you want to do in your life as a writer?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, go for it.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Take initiative.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Get assertive.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so many writers just sit passively by waiting for something to happen to them.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got to get off your duff and start making things happen for yourself.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: On the wall in my home office, I have a printout of that famous photo showing Elvis and Nixon shaking hands there in the White House.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I hung it up as a reminder to get a little bit crazy, to take action, and to do whatever it takes to make my writing dreams come true.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they're not going to happen by accident for you either.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's daily question.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: What did you learn from this story about Elvis and also about taking initiative as a writer?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I want to take a moment to let you know about our daily writer membership community.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the very best ways to develop better habits and impact more people's lives with your writing is to spend time around other successful writers.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're tired of feeling isolated and chasing success on your own, then I know you're going to love the Daily Writer community.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: For years, I searched for the kind of writing community that I would want to join, but I can never find what I wanted, so I created my own.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the features include weekly writing sprints, monthly community calls, book discussions, calls with guest experts, and much more.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: For more info, you can visit dailywriterlife.comslash community.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.