Nixon asked Davis if he would go to Vietnam to entertain the soldiers, where he performed several shows before large groups of soldiers, and also performed at hospitals and rehab centres. However, the mission was two sided: entertain the troops, but also check up on reports of drug abuse. Civil rights leaders back in America were complaining that a disproportionate number of black GIs were being singled out for punishment when caught using drugs. Davis aimed to check up on the black soldiers. He went to a detoxification centre.

Many of the white GIs were appreciative of him, however many black GIs distrusted him. Several GIs made loud noises about his marriage to May Britt. He pleaded for understanding, but many complained to him about "the white man," about Nixon, about being hooked on dope. Davis was invited back to the White House to give a report about the trip and organized a dinner. Through their association, Davis had done something no black had ever been able to do: he had touched Richard Nixon. When Nixon asked him if he'd be willing to campaign for his reelection, he enthusiastically agreed.

There was no selling in campaigning for Nixon. Davis would simply attend Republican affairs, fundraising cocktail parties, and sing songs. The Republicans prepared for their Miami Beach convention when Mike Curb, musician and producer of "The Candy Man," was asked if Sammy and himself could perform 'The Candy Man" at the Miami convention, as it was Nixon’s favourite song. Curb told Nixon that his record company was thinking of a suitable venue to present Davis with his gold record for the song and Curb mentioned that Miami Beach might be a possibility, then he asked the president if he would phone Davis and invite him down. Sammy agreed. Two nights after the convention, Republican delegates nominated Nixon for reelection.

Afterward, the president made his way over to the Republican Youth Rally, where Davis was performing. When Nixon came into view, amid shouts of FOUR MORE YEARS!, he quieted the crowd, then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, young voters, the president of the United States." And the audience went wild, Nixon was grinning and Davis leapt over to Nixon and embraced him – an act the public had rarely seen of Nixon even with his own wife! Nixon let loose with a grin, wrapping his arms across his own chest with Davis leaning on the president's shoulder.

When Nixon finally got around to talking he apologized for interrupting his performance and mentioned he had a little remembrance he wished to share with the audience: "I have a cute story to tell the people, if I may. Years ago, when I was a senator in California, I came to New York. Sammy was appearing at the Copa. It was winter, and snow was around the block. The limo dropped me off. I said, 'I'm Senator Nixon and I was wondering if there's a chance to see Sammy.' They said, 'There's not a seat in the house.' I said, 'Is there any way for me to get a message to Sammy Davis?' Just then, one of the guys got a hold of Sammy and said ‘Senator Nixon's out there, he can't get in.’ Sammy got a hold of the owner of the Copa and said, 'Senator Nixon and his wife are out there. I know there are no seats. Put them at my table.' And, Sammy, you performed. It was an evening I'll never forget. I want you to know you're still the greatest." Nixon talked of Davis' critics, the ones who, Nixon said, felt he had "sold out" for supporting his presidency. "Well, let me give you the answer: You aren't going to buy Sammy Davis Jr. by inviting him to the White House."

Richard Nixon exhibited very little curiosity about blacks or ethnic minorities in America, and it was Davis who became Nixon's envoy to a world Nixon did not understand. The closer Nixon got to Davis, the more apparent it became he did not understand the entertainer at all. "You aren't going to buy Sammy Davis Jr. by inviting him to the White House," Nixon had said. But Nixon was wrong: You could buy Davis. Not in a vicious or completely immoral manner -- not in, say, the manner Nixon would seek to buy off Watergate conspirators. But if you could get to the soft spot in Davis' heart -- insecurity -- and linger there, then his heartstrings would race to his head, leading him to dangerous and sentimental conclusions that had little to do with reason. And those conclusions -- he was being loved -- set him up to be bought.

Within a day, he received hate mail and was booed off stage because of the hugging incident. In March, 1973, the Senate began its televised Watergate hearings. In July came testimony that Nixon secretly taped White House conversations. The dragon of Watergate was fully loose now, and Nixon's presidency was unraveling. Nixon and Davis played against each other's torments. With Watergate draping all around him, Nixon needed friends. He sulked along the corridors of the White House, many nights alone. But then, there, within reach -- within a camera's flash -- was his old Copa pal. Caught between black and white, Davis had more than once reached in surprising directions -- toward Judaism in the mid-'50s, black power in the mid-'60s, Nixon now -- to stabilize his insecurities. But there was no avoiding the demons let loose with Watergate. After Nixon resigned, Davis decided it best to dust his hands of Republicans.