“I’m not a crook!” said past American President, Richard Nixon.
The watergate scandal, a political scandal in the 70’s involved president Nixon, who was trying to cover up his illegal actions during his campaign where he was trying to get re-elected. The affair began when 5 men were arrested for breaking and entering illegally into the watergate complex on june 17, 1972.
Investigations led them to believe that Richard Nixon was the root of the crime. He was confronted. He lied.
In his public address he lied to the public, but there were some key pieces that gave him away.
“…never profited from public service.”
When Nixon was saying this part, he let out a sign that is fairly simple to control. His body was contradictory to his words. Rather than shaking his head, he was nodding it up and down. He repeated this action when he said, “and in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice.”
And the biggest part of the lie was the ever so infamous, “I’m not a crook.”
So, a good tip to look out for when you’re trying to see if people are lying, is to both listen to their voice, and look at their body language. If they’re saying yes, but their head is shaking no, obviously somethings wrong. The same goes for the converse.