I watched this on a black and white television on August 8, 1974. I was only 9 years old. It was a day that changed me forever.

At 9 years old, I didn’t understand what Watergate was really about (and I probably still don’t). But this address that was on live TV that evening produced a visceral impact on me, one that I still can feel today.

Believe it or not, I actually realized at that young age how important it was for me to be alive and to be there for that moment, to be there as a witness. After Nixon’s announcement was over, I left the room to digest what had just happened. In solitude, I recognized how I would always remember the President’s last address to the nation–and I even accepted the complicated reality that the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States, had been utterly defeated–by himself. He didn’t admit to doing anything wrong, but you could see he had done wrong. You could see it in his face. You could hear it in his voice. He was admitting to the world that he had done something terribly wrong, and he wouldn’t be able to continue being the President any longer.

I hadn’t been born yet when JFK was assassinated. So this moment probably had the greatest impact to my world view at the time.

It left me with the ability to accept a harsh reality–that people with great power, people with great fame, people with great wealth, people that everyone in the entire world seemed to look up to for inspiration, as role models, as leaders–I realized from that very young age onward, that sometimes these very special people may not actually be what they seem.

And today, because of this prior experience, I know something else. If a corrupt individual is prosecuted but fights vigorously for his own defense–there will always remain some segment of the population who will not lose faith in him. Even if this person is found guilty after fair trial, and he still insist upon his innocence–there will be some segment of the population who will not lose faith in them. Even if the evidence of his crimes are indisputable, and the crimes he committed were horrendous–if the charged individual claims the evidence against him was falsified, and he continues to claim his innocence–there will be some segment of the population who will not lose faith in him, even after he is executed.

For the the greatest number of people to truly believe a person is guilty of a crime, and that justice has been served, the accused person must admit his guilt freely and openly, and to everyone. Just like Nixon did.