George at the White House

Why did George and Billy Preston get invited to the White House?

Moe...

He flew there on a whim and wanted to see the president to get a
federal narcotics badge.

Dimitrios Paskoudniakis...

Jack Ford, son of the president, invited George to lunch at the White House,
December 13, 1974. I would assume young Mr. Ford was a fan of the Beatles,
and being the son of a president has its privileges. George brought friends
Billy Preston and Ravi Shankar, who were on his North American tour.

Later that day, George had two concerts just outside Washington, at the
Capital Centre arena in Largo, Maryland.

Jeff...

I wonder if George had lost his voice before then?

DC...

Yes. I saw him on Long Island, and it was pretty shot then.

backthen...

The press referred to that as the "Dark HOARSE" tour at the time because
his voice couldn't take the wear and tear of the tour.

Didn't Ford pin one of his WIN buttons on George. WIN stood for "Whip
Inflation Now". There was runaway inflation at the time and that was about
the only thing the Ford administration did to try to stop it. They left
the Carter administration with huge budget deficits and very high interest
rates. Some time during the Carter presidency, banks and m/m accounts for
paying 21-22% interest!

Sixties Gen...

Wasn't George's father also on hand at this "famous" meeting?

UsurperTom...

Yes and so were Olivia, Tom Scott and Jim Keltner.

Sixties Gen...

Seems to me that there was a photo of Ford and the two Harrisons.

Anyone have a link for that photo?