President Clinton's historic journey to Vietnam ultimately turned into a visit to two very different countries, one run by Communist Party stalwarts loath to change their ways and another teeming with restless young people yearning for a more open economy and political system.

Clinton's repeated calls for Vietnam to embrace free markets and political reforms, voiced in public speeches and private meetings, received a generally indifferent response from this nation's senior leaders, who remain deeply suspicious of American influence.

But among the 60 percent of the population born after the end of what the Vietnamese call the American War, Clinton's exhortations were right on point. Fans of MTV and fluent with e-mail, many members of the younger generation say they are frustrated by the country's economic and political stagnation.

"I agree with what Clinton told us," said Ly Mong Xuan, 27, a sales clerk at a variety store. "People should be more free to speak, and the government should listen to what we have to say."

The ideological conflict between old and young Vietnam likely will be one of the country's defining issues for the foreseeable future, suggesting that fundamental economic and political changes are a long way off. Although it has a prime minister and a legislature, Vietnam is effectively run by a 19-member Politburo whose collective psyche has been shaped by the long struggle for independence.

"We respect the choice, the lifestyle and political systems of other nations," Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu told Clinton in a private meeting, according to the party's official newspaper. "We in turn demand that other nations respect our people's choices."

Phieu also took issue with Clinton's characterization of the two countries' shared history as a "painful, painful past."

"For us, the past was the root, the foundation, the strength of the present and future," said Phieu, who is regarded as the country's top political leader. "The result of our anti-aggression resistance was that we gained independence, reunified our country and brought our country to socialism. Therefore, for us, the past was not a dark, sorrowful and unhappy past."

Clinton said in an interview with CNN today that he "had a nice little debate" with Phieu when the two met Saturday afternoon. "We had never had any imperialist designs here," Clinton said. "The conflict here was over what self-determination for the Vietnamese people really meant and what freedom and independence really meant."

In interviews with a score of people here and in Hanoi who were born after the war ended in 1975, many said Vietnam should look to the United States for economic--and, in some cases, political--guidance.

"We should listen to what Clinton is saying," said a 23-year-old engineering student who did not want his name published for fear of government retribution. "After all, America is a very prosperous country."

Young people mobbed Clinton as he spent two days in the capital, Hanoi, and today in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, the capital of the U.S.-backed government in South Vietnam. Thousands of cheering people, many of them in their twenties, lined his motorcade routes, straining against metal barricades.

"I think it says a lot about what the people of Vietnam would like their relationship with America to be," Clinton said of his reception. "They would like us to be their partner."

The postwar generation has been a key focus of Clinton's three-day trip, which ended today. On Friday, he delivered a nationally televised address to 600 university students in Hanoi where he gently touted the values of capitalism and democracy. And today, he met with six young people at a round-table discussion, where they talked about a variety of subjects including education, the Internet and civil liberties.

"One of the great debates every society must have is how to balance individual freedoms . . . with the need for . . . cohesion of families, communities and nations," Clinton said at the discussion.

The Vietnamese participants, two of whom were Communist Party members, noted that Vietnam has made significant strides in personal freedom, such as allowing citizens to travel within the nation. But several said their country should not abandon its political philosophy.

"For us, freedom means peace," said Tran Troung Son, director of a trading company. "For you, freedom maybe means something more than that."

In this city's sidewalk restaurants and Internet cafes, other students and young entrepreneurs voiced a different view of freedom. "It means having economic prosperity," said one shopkeeper.

Economic reform--particularly job creation--is a top concern of young Vietnamese. Every year, more than 1.4 million people are joining the work force, and many are being forced into professions they don't want.

Xuan, the sales clerk, graduated from college with an accounting degree but took a job in a variety store after spending a year trying to find work as a number-cruncher. "It feels very frustrating," she said.

Clinton's comments about political and economic reform, made in almost every speech he delivered in Vietnam, have been virtually ignored by the newspapers and television news programs, which are controlled by the government. Although his speech at the university was televised, it was not advertised beforehand and his comments about human rights were garbled because of a translation problem.

His appearance also was competing with other big news for the Vietnamese: their national soccer team's matches in the medal round of the Tiger Cup tournament.

Nevertheless, young Vietnamese said they have been chatting about the president's visit. "We agree with many of the things he says," said a woman who works in a bookstore.

But down the block, in a small craft shop, the saleswoman suggested that people on both sides of the reform debate need to recognize the merits of their opponents' arguments.

"I think Clinton is right when he says that Vietnamese people should be free to express our ideas, to tell the government what we want and what we don't want," said Bui Thi Nguyet Ha. "But we shouldn't just abandon the Vietnamese system. We have good values too, like stability and respect for our families."

"The Americans," she said, "can also learn from us."