by
Connie Kirchberg & Marc Hendrickx
See below for an overview, or follow the links above to read an excerpt. Desperate Times recalls the mood of the country prior to Watergate, while Elvis is back! showcases the main events that put an end to the miserable move era.
Elvis Presley, age 2, outside the home his father built.
Richard Nixon, age 5, outside the home his father built.
| While the final epitaphs of
Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon have yet to be written, as far as
negative or positive slants are concerned, both
are destined to rank among the most renowned figureheads of the
Twentieth Century. Not bad for two poor boys raised in modest
homes built by their fathers. How did it all come about? Despite
the difference in their chosen careers, Nixon and Presley shared
the one key element needed to rise above the mediocre expectations
of their surroundings: they believed in the American Dream.
Why will they remain in the hearts and minds of millions long after their critics have passed on? What brought them together for a meeting at the height of their careers? What caused them to tumble from their respective thrones? Why was Nixon able to recover, and Presley not? Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream explores these questions in depth, beginning where every character study should—by exploring the family albums. As with most successful entrepreneurs, each boy’s journey began at an early age. Eight- year-old Presley watched his heroes perform on local radio programs, and proclaimed to his class- mates that someday they would be watching him on the Grand Ole Opry. The Teapot Dome scandal was rocking the nation when Nixon, at the philosophical age of nine, reacted to the stories by informing his mother that someday he would grow up to be a lawyer who couldn’t be bribed.
|
Nixon went on to become much
more than a lawyer, of course, and Presley far surpassed his dream of
appearing on the Opry. Ironically, the same factors that allowed these
improbable heroes to reach their goals bear responsibility for their
ultimate fall from grace. Each man's fate was sealed by his respective
upbringing. Presley was still a boy when his dream came true—a Southern, God-fearing kid who felt responsible for the welfare of his parents, neither of whom had the skills or education to rise above the poverty that had engulfed them from the day they were born. It was this ultimate sense of responsibility to family and friends that proved fatal to him as the years wore on. Rather than abandon a sinking ship, he allowed it to pull him under. By the time Nixon won his first elected office at age 33, the lessons he had learned as a child were fully ingrained into his personality as well; he kept his emotions in check, and relied on himself to get the job done. Friends and aides who failed to advance his career became expendable for the greater cause: remaining in a position of power so he could work toward achieving his goal of world peace. When confronted with his own sinking ship in Watergate, he floated to shore on a raft, licked his wounds, and set about charting a new course. Nixon's ability to admit he could not live up to his public's expectations of perfection allowed him to recover from the humiliation of becoming the first president ever to resign his office. Stripped of his hero |
status, he was finally free
to make mistakes, to be mortal as he continued his journey
through this imperfect world. And what a journey it proved to be. An
ex-president for nearly twenty years at the time of his death, he
had rebuilt his reputation to become one of America’s most respected
elder statesmen, his advice on political matters welcomed by leaders
throughout the world.
Presley's poor health in later years, aided by a dependency on prescription drugs, kept him from achieving a similar comeback. Unlike Nixon, who continued to set new goals, Elvis' purpose in life re- mained the same: pleasing his beloved fans. His followers saw only what they wanted to see, ignoring the warning signs right up until the moment of his untimely death, which, fittingly, came on the day he was set to embark on yet another tour. Fortunately, time has seen fit to restore the entertainer's crippled reputation. After decades of critical backlash for his sequined jumpsuits and B-grade movies, the legend of Elvis Presley has finally been reborn through the legacy he left behind: his music. Remastered box sets of his recordings, each spanning a separate decade, were met with rave reviews. An icon of American pop culture, Presley will go down in history as having shaped the form of popular music. And rightfully so, for as John Lennon once said, "Before Elvis, there was nothing." |
"When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books and I was the hero in the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream that I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times..." (Elvis Presley)
Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream...available at select bookstores--ask for it! (ISBN 0-7864-0716-6)
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