When asked by CBS News Anchor Dan Rather why he had an affair with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky, former President Bill Clinton answered:

"I think I did something for the worst possible reason — just because I could. I think that’s the most, just about the most morally indefensible reason that anybody could have for doing anything. When you do something just because you could ... I’ve thought about it a lot. And there are lots of more sophisticated explanations, more complicated psychological explanations. But none of them are an excuse ... Only a fool does not look to explain his mistakes." (Emphasis added.)

Clinton, whose memoir My Life was released June 22 to mixed reviews, was paid more than $10 million for his autobiography. But it is his image with the American public that may actually pay the biggest price.

In an Associated Press poll released earlier this week following Clinton’s "because I could" confession, a majority (53 percent) of those questioned said they have an unfavorable view of Clinton, while 41 percent rated him favorably. That represented a significant change since just last January, when people were about evenly divided in their view of Clinton as a person. And, to add an injured legacy to that personal insult, seven in 10 Americans polled say history will judge former President Ronald Reagan superior to the two-termer from Hope, Arkansas.

Those ratings came before the 42nd President presented an even darker side of his character than the one portrayed in his written explanation of his life. In an interview with USA Today, Clinton is reported as saying he isn’t sure whether he would have ever said anything to his family about his affair with Lewinsky if Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr hadn’t uncovered it. Remarkably, Clinton said his anger toward Starr in part explains why he had the affair at all. "That’s not an excuse. But it is an explanation, and that’s the best I can do," he said.

The power of the "because I could" factor surely has motivated others before Clinton to act inexcusably. What remains to be seen is whether "BIC" will become a more popular and accepted defense or be exposed for the "BS" it really is.

The greatest irony of Clinton’s "because I could" explanation is the symbolism it conjures up when considering Emily Dickinson’s 1955 poem containing the phrase. "Because I Could not Stop for Death" is a poem about both marriage and death. Often described as one of the greatest English poems, Ms. Dickinson personifies death as a kindly gentleman taking a lady for a ride, and on their journey they pass the vitality of life en route to eternity. The poem has been described as representing the idea that there is afterlife.

But is there life after the White House?

There undoubtedly is. But with Clinton’s persona and legacy left at the mercy of his autobiography and still evolving confessions, it might be poetic justice, to say the least, that Clinton jeopardized that life yet again.

To read Emily Dickinson’s "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," click here.