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Pete Peterson, the former prisoner of war appointed by Clinton as the first postwar ambassador to Vietnam from the United States, called Clinton's visit "a huge victory" for reform-minded elements in communist Vietnam.

November 17, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/southeast/11/16/clinton.vietnam/
Web posted at: 1:42 a.m. HKT (1742 GMT)

HANOI, Vietnam (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton, a one-time anti-war protester, arrived Thursday on the first presidential visit to Vietnam since Richard Nixon's 1969 trip.

Lyndon Johnson made two trips to Vietnam as president, the only other U.S. chief executive to visit the southeast Asian nation. Both Nixon and Johnson traveled during the long Vietnam War, which ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Clinton wrote in 1969 that he "opposed and despised" the Vietnam conflict, and avoided the draft. Ultimately, however, he drew a lottery number -- one that spared him induction.

Clinton left Brunei for Hanoi at the close of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Thursday, saying he was making the trip to open "a new page in our relations with Vietnam."

Clinton was greeted at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport by Vietnamese foreign minister Nguyen Dy Nien and trade minister Vu Khoan.

No official ceremonies were scheduled for the president's arrival. He traveled immediately to his hotel for the night, where dozens of Vietnamese waited to catch a glimpse of him.

'Huge victory' for Vietnamese reform
Pete Peterson, the former prisoner of war appointed by Clinton as the first postwar ambassador to Vietnam from the United States, called Clinton's visit "a huge victory" for reform-minded elements in communist Vietnam.

"It was Bill Clinton who opened up and had the vision for moving ahead rather aggressively with our relationship with Vietnam, when in many senses it may not have been to any political advantage of his," Peterson said. "He saw this as an opportunity for America to heal wounds and to build bridges."

In 1994, Clinton ended the trade embargo imposed on Vietnam, and a year later re-established diplomatic relations -- with the support of prominent Vietnam veterans.

As for Clinton's opposition to the war that cost nearly 60,000 American lives -- and about 3 million Vietnamese -- Peterson said he doubted the president's hosts would make any mention of it.

"It probably is well-known," the ambassador said, "but it's never been mentioned to me."

Hillary Clinton arrives from Israel
Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, the president's wife, arrived in Hanoi from Leah Rabin's funeral in Jerusalem several hours before Clinton was due to arrive. The first lady drew admiring crowds when she took a shopping and gallery trip after her arrival.

"It's our great pleasure to see her here, because we've heard a lot about her, we've read a lot about her," said Tran Hien Lan, an English literature teacher whose late father's paintings hung in the gallery Senator-elect Clinton visited. "She is one of the most well-known women in the world. She is a very talented woman."

President Clinton, his wife, daughter Chelsea and other government officials will be in Vietnam for three days, returning to Washington after a visit to Ho Chi Minh City -- formerly Saigon -- on Sunday.

The president is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and is expected to discuss with both men expanding trade relations.

Clinton will also travel to an aircraft crash site where investigators are searching for the remains of U.S. servicemen still listed as missing after the war. Nearly 1,500 names remain on that list.