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Bill Clinton visits Vietnam to mark 20th anniversary of ties

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, toasts with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister during an event celebrating 239th anniversary of the U.S. independence and 20th anniversary of normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday July 2, 2015. Clinton lifted the trade embargo against Vietnam in 1994 and normalized relations with the communist country a year later. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh.) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, toasts with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister during an event celebrating 239th anniversary of the U.S. independence and 20th anniversary of normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday July 2, 2015. Clinton lifted the trade embargo against Vietnam in 1994 and normalized relations with the communist country a year later. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh.)

By Associated Press July 2, 2015 1 min read

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – For Bill Clinton, the timing of President Barack Obama’s announcement this week of plans to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba must seem auspicious. It was 20 years ago this month that Clinton pulled off a similar diplomatic and political success, normalizing relations with Vietnam.

Not that Clinton needs a reminder – he is in Vietnam to commemorate his largely forgotten breakthrough. He spoke as guest of honor Thursday night at a reception hosted by the U.S. Embassy to celebrate American Independence Day.

The former president, in a speech reviewing U.S.-Vietnam cooperation, described normalization of relations as “one of the most important achievements of my presidency,” and said it helped lift the spiritual burden that the Vietnam War had weighed on the American spirit.