Bill Clinton’s Historic Visit to Vietnam in 2000

“The average Vietnamese youngster knows exactly as much about the Vietnamese War as one of our high school students somewhere in America, which is probably almost nothing.” – Pete Peterson, Former Prisoner of War and later U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam  (November 2000)

On November 17, 2000, former President Bill Clinton made a historic visit to Vietnam, becoming the first President of the United States to visit the country since the end of the Vietnam War. It was a highly anticipated event, a chance for two countries with a troubled past to reconcile and move forward. Clinton was known as an avid anti-Vietnam war protester during his time as a student, and for refusing to join the military as he opposed the war.

At the time, Vietnam was rapidly transitioning from a Communist government to a market economy, and Clinton was interested in seeing the effects of the country’s economic reforms. He visited Ho Chi Minh City to meet with local business leaders and government officials, as well as to tour the city. He also made a trip to the former Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam, a site of intense fighting during the war.

During his visit, Clinton gave a speech to the citizens of Vietnam in which he apologized for the U.S.’s role in the war. He also noted the progress the country had made since the end of the conflict, praising its commitment to human rights. Clinton also announced that the United States would reduce its trade embargo against Vietnam and make available $20 million in aid.

The visit was seen as a success, and it heralded a new era of cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. Since then, the two countries have developed strong diplomatic, economic, and educational ties. In 2009, President Barack Obama visited Vietnam and cemented many of the gains made during Clinton’s historic visit.

Clinton’s visit to Vietnam was a major milestone in the healing of old wounds. It showed the citizens of both countries that the two nations could move past their differences and work together for peace, stability, and prosperity. It also helped to lay the groundwork for the vibrant partnership the two countries now share.

What follows is an excerpt from “Clinton Makes Historic Visit to Vietnam”, by Ann Compton and Mark Litke, ABC News, Associated Press, and Reuters, depicting how the arrival of the Clintons unfolded. This was published on November 16, 2000.

The American president who opposed the war in Vietnam and avoided military service here three decades ago, arrived in Hanoi today on a mission to redefine U.S. relations.

Ahead of his arrival, President Clinton said he hoped his presence “opens a new page in our relations … hopefully one that will put an end to the divisions.”

It was nearly midnight in Hanoi when Air Force One landed so his official welcome to the capital had to wait until Friday morning. But the Clinton schedule in Vietnam includes very little time with its communist leadership.

No other U.S. leader has ever officially visited Hanoi and he is the first to visit Vietnam since U.S. troops withdrew from the country in 1975.

Richard Nixon was the last serving president to visit the region when he traveled to the former U.S.-backed South Vietnam in July 1969 when the war was raging. Clinton, the present-day U.S. commander-in-chief, avoided the conflict.

Clinton’s only focus on the past is for a “full accounting” of the American servicemen still missing in action since the war.

He is scheduled to observe work Saturday at the excavation site of an American jet fighter that crashed in 1967 near Hanoi.

The jet was piloted by Air Force Capt. Lawrence Evert. Clinton has invited Evert’s two sons to join him at the site.

Clinton is seeking as much exposure as possible to Vietnam’s younger generations, too young to remember the war.

In the 1970s, Clinton avoided the draft and protested the U.S. presence in Vietnam.

On Friday, Clinton will deliver a major presidential address at Hanoi University, to be broadcast live on national television.

Hillary Charms Hanoi

But several hours before the president arrived, the Clinton charm had already worked its magic on the streets of Vietnam.

Drawing screaming crowds of hundreds of local people, First Lady and Senator-elect Hillary Clinton arrived in Hanoi hours before the president. She flew in directly from Israel, where she attended the funeral of Leah Rabin, widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Wednesday.

Having barely had time to drop her luggage at the presidential hotel, Mrs. Clinton was driven to a downtown art gallery to visit a painting exhibition. She then toured a shopping street, attracting hundreds more excited onlookers, a highly unusual scene in normally staid Hanoi.

The crowd, held back by Vietnamese police and U.S. SecretServicemen, cheered and screamed when Hillary waved.

“I am delighted to be here,” she told reporters. “I am very excited about our trip here. I feel very good about the wonderful reaction,” she said.

‘One of the Most Well-Known Women’

Tran Hien Lan, an English literature teacher whose late father’s paintings Hillary saw at the gallery, was thrilled and proudly showed the First Lady’s signature in the guest book.

“It’s our great pleasure to see her here because we’ve heard a lot about her, we’ve read a lot about her,” she said. “She is one of the most well-known women in the world.”

“I’ve admired her for a long time already and it’s the first time I get the chance to meet her directly and talk with her,” said Tran Tuyet Lan, general manager of a handicraft shop Hillary stopped at.

“It’s a pleasure for us, we are just very proud that we can serve her some nice products and present some of our traditional culture of Vietnamese people.”

A Post-War Generation

Over the past few years, communist Vietnam has been seeing the embrace of Western ways.

Twenty-five years after American troops left Vietnam, many young Vietnamese still perform the old revolutionary songs. But when the uniforms come off, Vietnam’s post-war generation rocks to a very American beat.

“The average Vietnamese youngster knows exactly as much about the Vietnamese War as one of our high school students somewhere in America, which is probably almost nothing,” U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson told reporters.

Peterson was a prisoner of war himself during the conflict the Vietnamese call The American War but is now one of the most outspoken champions of improved ties between the two countries.

Signs of American influence are everywhere.

Outside the capital of Hanoi, where American B-52s dropped their bombs during the war, stands a spanking new Ford car factory.

And the largest private employer in communist Vietnam, with nearly 50,000 workers on its payrolls, is none other than Nike, a veritable icon of American consumerism.

Food and ‘Cong Viec’

Where a U.S.-sponsored war once claimed nearly 3 million Vietnamese lives, today the American assembly line provides Vietnamese with jobs and security.

“These jobs are extremely attractive,” said Nike’s Chris Helzer. He said American companies now arriving in Vietnam are met with a flood of job seekers.

“Here you have a people who, for the first time in a long, long time, see opportunities for prosperity,” said Helzer. “And they’re excited.”

For a month’s work in the Nike factory just outside Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thuy, 22, earns only $50 a month, but that is three times the national average.

With a salary like that, Tran is the proud possessor of the two things the post-war generation most dearly wants: family and “Cong Viec,” (a good-paying job).

But not everyone is happy with American-style capitalism sweeping the country. Local elders and some communist leaders remain suspicious about the growing consumerism. A Communist Party official recently warned of the dangers of American economic imperialism.

But the old rhetoric has a hollow ring. The heroes of the post-war generation are young entrepreneurs like Tran Thang, who started his own securities firm to trade on his country’s first-ever stock market.

Only four companies are listed on the Vietnamese Stock Exchange so far, but Vietnam now boasts its own Wall Street.