Willems' Fundamental Lemma provides a powerful data-driven parametrization of all trajectories of a controllable linear time-invariant system based on one trajectory with persistently exciting (PE) input. In this paper, we present a novel proof of this result which is inspired by the classical adaptive control literature and, in contrast to the existing proofs, is constructive. Our proof also provides a quantitative and directional PE notion, as opposed to binary rank-based PE conditions. Moreover, the proof shows that the PE requirements of the Fundamental Lemma are not only sufficient but also necessary when considering arbitrary controllable systems. As a contribution of independent interest, we generalize existing PE results from the adaptive control literature and reveal a crucial role of the system's zeros.