Richard Nixon spoke a brief, yet absolute and undeniable truth to the country.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

&quot P)eople have got to know whether or not their President is a crook."

Unfortunately, this tidbit frequently gets overlooked by what he said in his very next breath, which was probably the defining quote of his legacy: "Well, I am not a crook."

The words "I am not a crook" has been repeated, analyzed, dramatized, parodied, etc. ad nauseum. Notably, when he said them at the 1973 Annual Convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association in Orlando, he was not directly addressing the Watergate scandal (although he did address that scandal at other points during his question and answer session.) He was actually addressing a question concerning whether or not he improperly profited off of some real estate dealings. But ultimately, the quote has been attributed to his role in Watergate and I'm certain Watergate was on his mind when he said it.

But too often we forget what Nixon said immediately preceding "I am not a crook." And it epitomized Nixon's legacy, which was that throughout the corruption and paranoia and personality flaws were mixed in surprising--if fleeting--moments of introspection, self-reflection and honest wisdom. But what else could you expect from someone who brought us the EPA and normalized relations with China and yet also brought us Watergate and an escalation of the Vietnam War?

But Richard Nixon, in those 13 words, spoke something that should be recognized as universally true. The American people are owed a duty to see for themselves whether or not the person leading them is honest or corrupt.

And it's something we need to keep in mind today in 2017 as we analyze and consider the man who legally (if not morally) holds the title as the 45th President of the United States. A man whose sins might very well eclipse those of Nixon and Watergate, and yet someone who absolutely does not possess Nixon's ability of occasional honest introspection, nor any of his intelligence.

The bottom line--as I sit here at this moment watching several officials duck and dance around questions concerning their dealings with Donald Trump without providing any real straight answers--is this:

The American people have got to know whether or not Donald J. Trump is a crook.