The King of Memphis, George Bush and the Prime Minister

President Bush and Mrs. Bush arrived in Memphis Mid-morning and later participated in a Tour

No, we’re not talking about DJ Paul or Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, the Memphis rappers slated the ‘Kings of Memphis’ nor are we talking about Playa Fly, the underground King of Memphis. Yet instead, we’re talking about President Bush, the First Lady and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who all are in Memphis today visiting Graceland due to ‘the King’ Elvis Presley being Koizumi’s childhood idol.

“Officially he’s here to see the President,” Bush says, “but I know the highlight of his visit will be paying his respects to the King.”

Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley were on hand to meet the visiting leaders.

This is the first visit ever to Graceland by a sitting U.S. President.

Prime Minister Koizumi is a huge Elvis fan. He not only shares a birthday with the King (January 8), but selected his songs for a 2001 charity album called “Junichiro Koizumi Presents My Favorite Elvis Songs.” All 200,000 copies of the album sold out and, at one time, it was number eight on the Japanese charts.

President Bush and Mrs. Bush arrived in Memphis Mid-morning and later participated in a Tour of Graceland with the Prime Minister of Japan.

The President and Mrs. Bush are reported to later be scheduled to participate in lunch with the Prime Minister at Rendezvous sometime early afternoon before leaving later afternoon to head to Columbus, OH for a fundraiser for Mike DeWine.