Little-known story about the "once-in-a-lifetime" photo of the US President visiting Vietnam

It was a photo of President Bill Clinton standing on the balcony of the second floor of a house on Van Mieu Street (Hanoi), with a passerby shaking hands with two boys on the balcony of the house next door. It was an impromptu, spontaneous moment of the US President at that time, but was promptly captured by journalist Tran Viet Dung (photo reporter of Tuoi Tre Newspaper, Ho Chi Minh City).

The photo won first prize in the political-diplomatic category in the photo contest with the theme of 20 years of Vietnam-US relations.

The photo won first prize in the political-diplomatic category in the photo contest with the theme of 20 years of Vietnam-US relations through the lens of Vietnamese photographers, held in 2015.

Mr. Tran Viet Dung recalled that before the visit to Vietnam in 2000 by the then US President Bill Clinton, he was only 28 years old and had been working for the Tuoi Tre newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City for a while. Although he had some experience in the profession, facing a major political event of historical significance for the country, he felt extremely excited, enthusiastic but also quite nervous.

“Anyone who has the opportunity to participate in such an important historical event of the country must have the same feeling as me. Not only was I excited to be working at this unique event, but I was also somewhat worried because at that time, security work was carried out extremely tightly. Therefore, I had to discuss carefully with my colleagues and received absolute support from the editorial office,” journalist Viet Dung recalled.

The US President's visit schedule was updated hourly by Mr. Dung to follow every activity and every step Bill took. That day, the US President and his entourage visited a handicraft shop on Van Mieu Street (Hanoi).

When President Bill Clinton went up to the second floor of the house, he went out to the balcony to wave to the people below. Suddenly, 2 or 3 boys from the house next door also went out to the balcony and leaned over to show their intention to shake hands with the US President. Seeing this, Bill Clinton did not hesitate to respond with a bright smile, then naturally extended his hand to shake hands.

This unexpected moment was beyond everyone's expectations at that time. However, for press photographers, it was a priceless moment, a golden moment.

“At that time, I was standing on the street, right opposite the balcony where the US President was standing. There were 4 or 5 senior photographers of the White House standing there with me. I immediately raised my camera to take a picture. But unexpectedly, I was pushed by a White House security officer. Therefore, the first two shots missed. Despite him still trying to push me, there was no time to argue because the moment would pass, I stood firm and held my breath to take another picture, then the moment ended. After taking the picture, I was extremely worried, not knowing if the photo would be good because at that time there was no digital camera to view the photos immediately (at that time Viet Dung used an F90x film camera with a Tele 80-200/f2.8 lens - NV)”, Mr. Dung said.

It was not until he got home and developed the film that Viet Dung breathed a sigh of relief because of the three photos taken at that golden moment, the first two were blurry as expected. Luckily, the last one was sharp.

Recalling his feelings when he saw the developed photo, journalist Viet Dung said: “In the photo, Bill Clinton smiled brightly in response to the boys next door and reached out to shake hands. The photo shows the elegant but also very close and simple demeanor of the US President.”

The photo was published in Tuoi Tre newspaper the next day. He still keeps that film to this day.

That evening, Bill and his wife and daughter went to see a performance at the Opera House. Journalist Viet Dung also went there to work and unexpectedly met the security guard from the morning.

“Seeing me, he smiled and asked politely: “Did you do well at work today?”. I was still upset about the morning, but out of politeness, I smiled and gave him a thumbs up, meaning everything was fine, while in my heart I thought to myself, “I almost lost a beautiful photo because of you.”

In 2015, this photo by Viet Dung won first prize in the political-diplomatic category in a photo contest themed 20 years of Vietnam-US relations through the lens of Vietnamese photographers. When the Organizing Committee awarded the prize, Viet Dung briefly shared: I just want to let my American friends know that Vietnamese photographers can take photos that are no less than their foreign colleagues.

Former US Ambassador to Vietnam - Mr. Michael W. Michalak commented that the photo shows President Bill Clinton's friendliness towards the Vietnamese people as well as the warm welcome from the Vietnamese people for the US President.

During President Bill Clinton's subsequent activities, journalist Tran Viet Dung followed closely and he also had another favorite photo. That was when Bill and his daughter entered an art gallery on Hang Bong Street.

This activity also happened unexpectedly, not on the schedule. But with the sensitivity of a professional, when seeing the security force deployed densely in that area, Viet Dung immediately understood that an important activity was about to take place. And he waited there, taking a satisfactory photo when the US President and his daughter Chelsea bought the painting at this gallery.

Sharing his experience working at major political events, journalist Viet Dung said: “You must always ensure that you are best prepared when approaching an event. In addition, the photographer must have judgment, proactively anticipate all situations that may arise to come up with the best solution in the blink of an eye. In addition, the photographer must also have an understanding or know how to relate to life, so that when working, he can highlight the topic he wants to talk about.”

However, Mr. Viet Dung also admitted that luck also contributed significantly to the success of these "once-in-a-lifetime" photos.

According to Dan Viet