THIS IS ELVIS

In January of 1964, Colonel Parker talked Elvis into buying the presidential yacht Potomac, once used by Franklin Roosevelt. The idea was to give away the yacht for charity (and publicity), but Elvis and the Colonel soon realized that no one wanted a 'gift' that would serve no useful purpose and would be expensive for charities to maintain. Eventually, the yacht was accepted by Danny Thomas on behalf of Saint Jude Hospital.

"In the end the event generated a good deal of publicity, but Elvis was furious nonetheless. What had the old man been thinking, buying this piece of shit that nobody wanted and turning him into a laughingstock in the eyes of the world? He had agreed to it, it was true; as a student of history, and as an admirer of Roosevelt and Churchill and General MacArthur, he had been proud to purchase the boat on which the great issues of the Second World War had been discussed. But the way this thing had gone, he was beginning to wonder if maybe Colonel was slipping. And besides, what did the old man mean, interrupting his Las Vegas vacation?"
  - Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley