Editing Elvis Presley (section)

==== Back on tour and meeting Nixon ====
Presley returned to the International early in 1970 for the first of the year's two-month-long engagements, performing two shows a night. Recordings from these shows were issued on the album ''[[On Stage (Elvis Presley album)|On Stage]]''.{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=94}} In late February, Presley performed six attendance-record–breaking shows at the [[Houston Astrodome]].{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=95}} In April, the single "[[The Wonder of You#Elvis Presley version|The Wonder of You]]" was issued—a number one hit in the UK, it topped the U.S. [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|adult contemporary]] chart as well. [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) filmed rehearsal and concert footage at the International during August for the documentary ''[[Elvis: That's the Way It Is]]''. Presley was performing in a jumpsuit, which would become a trademark of his live act. During this engagement, he was threatened with murder unless {{US$|50,000|link=yes}} ({{Inflation|US|50000|1970|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) was paid. Presley had been the target of many threats since the 1950s, often without his knowledge.{{sfn|Hopkins|2007|p=253}} The FBI took the threat seriously and security was increased for the next two shows. Presley went onstage with a [[Derringer]] in his right boot and a [[.45 caliber]] [[pistol]] in his waistband, but the concerts succeeded without any incidents.{{sfn|Hopkins|2007|p=254}}{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=96}}

''[[That's the Way It Is (Elvis Presley album)|That's the Way It Is]]'', produced to accompany the documentary and featuring both studio and live recordings, marked a stylistic shift. As music historian John Robertson noted, <blockquote>The authority of Presley's singing helped disguise the fact that the album stepped decisively away from the American-roots inspiration of the Memphis sessions towards a more middle-of-the-road sound. With country put on the back burner, and soul and R&B left in Memphis, what was left was very classy, very clean white pop—perfect for the Las Vegas crowd, but a definite retrograde step for Elvis.{{sfn|Robertson|2004|p=70}}</blockquote> After the end of his International engagement on September 7, Presley embarked on a week-long concert tour, largely of the [[Southern United States|South]], his first since 1958. Another week-long tour, of the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]], followed in November.{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=99}}
[[File:Elvis-nixon.jpg|alt=A mutton-chopped Presley, wearing a long velour jacket and a giant buckle like that of a boxing championship belt, shakes hands with a balding man wearing a suit and tie. They are facing camera and smiling. Five flags hang from poles directly behind them.|left|thumb|258x258px|Presley meets US President [[Richard Nixon]] in the [[White House]] [[Oval Office]], December 21, 1970]]
On December 21, 1970, Presley engineered a meeting with U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] at the [[White House]], where he explained how he believed he could reach out to the [[hippie]]s to help combat the [[drug culture]] he and the president abhorred. He asked Nixon for a [[Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs]] badge, to signify official sanction of his efforts. Nixon, who apparently found the encounter awkward, expressed a belief that Presley could send a positive message to young people and that it was, therefore, important that he "retain his credibility".{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=419–422}} Presley told Nixon that [[the Beatles]], whose songs he regularly performed in concert during the era,{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|pp=284, 286, 307–308, 313, 326, 338, 357–358}} exemplified what he saw as a trend of [[anti-Americanism]].{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=420}} Presley and his friends previously had a four-hour get-together with the Beatles at his home in [[Bel Air, Los Angeles|Bel Air]], California, in August 1965. [[Paul McCartney]] later said that he "felt a bit betrayed.&nbsp;... The great joke was that we were taking [illegal] drugs, and look what happened to him", a reference to Presley's early death linked to [[prescription drug abuse]].{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=192}}

The [[United States Junior Chamber|U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce]] named Presley one of its annual [[Ten Outstanding Young Americans|Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Nation]] on January 16, 1971.{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=321}} Not long after, the City of Memphis named the stretch of [[U.S. Route 51|Highway 51 South]] on which Graceland is located "Elvis Presley Boulevard". The same year, Presley became the first rock and roll singer to be awarded the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] (then known as the Bing Crosby Award).{{sfn|McPhate|2017}}{{sfn|Guralnick|Jorgensen|1999|pp=299–300}} Three new, non-film Presley studio albums were released in 1971. Best received by critics was ''[[Elvis Country]]'', a [[Concept album|concept record]] that focused on genre standards.{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=319}} The biggest seller was ''[[Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas]]''. According to Greil Marcus, <blockquote>In the midst of ten painfully genteel Christmas songs, every one sung with appalling sincerity and humility, one could find Elvis tom-catting his way through six blazing minutes of "[[Merry Christmas Baby]]", a raunchy old [[Charles Brown (musician)|Charles Brown]] blues.{{nbsp}}[...] If [Presley's] sin was his lifelessness, it was his sinfulness that brought him to life.{{sfn|Marcus|1982|pp=284–185}}</blockquote>