Chelsea Clinton's Wedding Gift From Vietnamese Government: Tablecloth, Mosaic Portrait (PHOTOS)

By the Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Chelsea Clinton's big day may be half a world away but that hasn't tempered enthusiasm in Vietnam for her upcoming nuptials.

In Hanoi on Thursday for diplomatic meetings a little over a week before the July 31 wedding, mother-of-the-bride and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was given a wedding present -- a white tablecloth -- for her daughter by the Vietnamese government along with gemstone mosaic portrait of her and Chelsea during their 2000 visit to the country.

"Very nice," Clinton said when Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem presented her with the tablecloth and congratulated her on the marriage of her only child. "I'm very honored. I will be very pleased to give it to her."

Arriving at a hotel to speak to a luncheon hosted by the local American Chamber of Commerce, she was greeted by and posed glowingly for photos with a group of young American women holding a congratulatory sign reading "Mazel Tov Chelsea."

Clinton, who is on the last leg of a four-nation tour that also took her to Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Korea, was introduced by chamber president Hank Tomlinson as "the first secretary of state to visit Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea and Vietnam while also planning her daughter's wedding."

Clinton laughed and said jokingly that traveling while "trying to help organize my daughter's wedding is proof ... that I may be lacking in common sense." She said she was very focused on her trip but also ready to "return home and enjoy a most wonderful event and experience."

Comments

[Eri ap]

11:29 AM on 08/03/2010

I think it's a great gift. I'm sure they can find a nice place at their home and families and friends will enjoy it.

[AlamoSexual]

05:37 AM on 07/23/2010

That mosaic would be in the trash the moment I got home. I wouldn't even try to recycle - straight to the black landfill bin. It may even scare the worms away!

[patriciacaldwell]

10:22 PM on 07/24/2010

Why be nasty?

[maidenofdforest]

06:55 PM on 07/22/2010

Bill Clinton is just paying the wedding bills....and Hillary is leaving the couple to make decisions...nice. Hope Sarah Palin learns from this Mommy Grizzly take off her hands.

[clarendon67]

06:09 PM on 07/22/2010

That painting is really funny. When did they become Vietnamese. To the garage it goes.

[mwsomerset]

05:50 PM on 07/22/2010

I agree it was very nice of Viet Nam to send a wedding gift. I would love to see the tablecloth...it is probably spun silk and just beautiful.....because that picture is just hedious, gawdy and tacky. It's doubtful they will be entertaining the Viet Nam gov't in their home so they can donate it to the Clinton Library or just toss it.

[Livio Angileri]

04:13 PM on 07/22/2010

it will look great in the garage

[SiberianRat]

01:57 PM on 07/22/2010

The Vietnamese are lovely people--spent 6 weeks in HMC/Saigon on a project a few years ago and LOVED it. So great that gifts, rather than bombs, are being exchanged.

[arugularose]

01:18 PM on 07/22/2010

it's a lovely gift. Of course cultural conventions play into the gifts different nations give each other, that is part of what "exchange" is all about. Thank you to the vietnamese people for their warmth towards our very dignified secretary of state.

[clearpepsi]

11:39 AM on 07/22/2010

on behalf of the US people and their government I want to express that I greatly appreciate and thank the Vietnamese people for this beautiful gift and not rubbing our faces in the fact that they kicked our buts in a war... thank you..

[Hoz Hoven]

02:45 PM on 07/22/2010

You have not toured the CuChi Tunnels then? There it's firmly stated the Vietnamese won the "American War".

[clearpepsi]

03:37 PM on 07/22/2010

Dude! - the winner has the right to do what ever they want (right?), I was just trying to be gracious so we don't get them angry ... play it cool, for gods sake play it cool...

[Seeking Justice]

10:48 AM on 07/22/2010

I may be alone in this, but I think it was a really nice gesture from the Vietnamese. It's a gift that took time and talent. Kudos to Hillary for being so gracious!

[Lynda Filler]

11:29 AM on 07/22/2010

ditto, warm and sweet.

[GrownupStewie]

07:40 PM on 07/24/2010

its a very sweet gesture...i would put it in a powder room lol

[johnnygoodwud]

09:23 AM on 07/22/2010

whats really nasty is the picture frame. that pic. frame needs a velvet elvis painting in it

[johnnygoodwud]

09:21 AM on 07/22/2010

coneheads

[KarateKid]

09:01 AM on 07/22/2010

It would look more authentic if they both had on black pajamas.