JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: President Clinton's Vietnam experience is about to come full circle. The college student who avoided the war will now become the first U.S. president to visit the communist country since the end of the Vietnam conflict. CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us with details -- Kelly.</s>KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, Vietnam has been a complicated issue for this president, but he has made it very clear he would love to travel there. And so last week during the U.N. Millennium Summit, he received the official invitation from Vietnam's president. Mr. Clinton appeared at a prayer breakfast with religious leaders this morning. He didn't make any mention of the historic trip he will be making. He will head to Vietnam after the presidential elections in November, following an Asian Pacific economic summit in Brunai. The White House saying the president hopes that the trip will help advance the relationship between the two countries, and this is something Mr. Clinton has been working on throughout his administration. He began normalizing relations with Vietnam back in 1993, established full diplomatic ties in 1995, and just this summer signed a landmark trade deal with the country, basically paving the way for full normal trade relations between the two countries. Of course, as we mentioned at the top, the trip is also likely to be controversial. The president, during the 1992 campaign, received lots of questions about the fact that he received a deferral from the draft. He also protested the Vietnam War. The White House saying the president has worked hard to put the divisiveness of the past behind the country and look forward. Mr. Clinton will be the first president to visit Vietnam since the war ended. The last president to visit was President Nixon. He went there back in 1969 -- Jeanne.</s>MESERVE: Kelly Wallace at the White House, thank you.
President Clinton to Visit Vietnam After Election