January 8, 1935 is the day the King of Rock n’ Roll was born. Elvis Presley would’ve been 83 years old on this day.

In 1970, Elvis Presley asked Richard Nixon to make him a “federal agent at large” for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. (Presley collected police badges and wanted one from the bureau.) ­Nixon agreed and the pair shook on it at the White House (above).

His famous, five-page handwritten request appears in the fascinating new book Letters of Note, along with a memo Mark Twain wrote to Walt Whitman thanking him for his work. We’ve excerpted the images and text of Presley’s letter, along with an introduction from the book’s editor, Shaun Usher, below. (See Twain’s letter to Whitman.)

Elvis Presley was an avid collector of police badges and the owner of dozens from departments and agencies the length and breadth of the United States. But there was one badge in particular that he was desperate to get his hands on; one that had, for a long time, proven elusive: a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. In fact, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll was so keen to obtain one that in December 1970, he took a flight to the White House in order to hand-deliver this letter, written midflight, in which he cunningly offered his services in the war on drugs—as a “Federal Agent at Large.”

His arrival at the White House gates proved effective. A few hours later he had a meeting with President Nixon, gifted him with a Colt .45 pistol after a quick photo session, and asked for the badge he so wanted to own. Nixon obliged, they had their photograph taken, and the next day Elvis returned to Graceland.

The official photos of this bizarre event have since become the most requested in the history of the National Archives.

“December 21, 1970

Dear Mr. President:

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office. I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago and expressed my concerns for our country. The Drug Culture, the Hippie Elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc. do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the Establishment. I call it America and…”