Did Bill Clinton really think he could dodge #MeToo?

Former President Bill Clinton launched a book tour for his novel co-authored with James Patterson, "The President is Missing," over the weekend. And, thus far, it's been an unmitigated disaster, albeit a telling one, in terms of what his legacy will always be: the Monica Lewinsky affair.  

That may be fair or unfair but, if the gauge is what many people want to talk about first when Bill Clinton's name is raised, that's what you call a legacy. The former Boston Red Sox first baseman, Bill Buckner, knows this. He was a fine hitter during his 20-year major league career, even won a batting title in 1980. But bring up Buckner and the only vision anyone has is that slow grounder from Mookie Wilson trickling under his glove to hand Game 6 and, eventually, the World Series to the Mets in '86.  

And that's Clinton. A solid president who presided over a strong peacetime economy for the most part while moving to the center to work with Republicans on issues like welfare reform. But then Monica came along — and the affair in the Oval Office, with all the sordid details (and evidence via the infamous blue dress), were made public via the Drudge Report. Anything and everything Clinton had accomplished was blotted out by the affair, the president's denial before confessing, and the impeachment that followed. 

But special prosecutor Ken Starr overplayed his hand, in the eyes of the public, in investigating Clinton, as did congressional Republicans at the time. Result: Clinton became a sympathetic figure and eventually left office with a 65 percent approval rating, according to Gallup, the highest since Harry Truman.