Obama Eyes $108 Billion Annual Asia Prize Vying With China Trade

More than a century and a half after Millard Fillmore dispatched an emissary to Asia to transform commerce across the Pacific, a U.S. president again sees an historic opportunity to strengthen America’s role in the region.

Barack Obama sent his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to Asia for a record 86 days in his first term, including -- for the first time -- stops in all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Obama himself became the first sitting commander-in-chief to visit Myanmar, a nation the International Monetary Fund says may be the next economic frontier in Asia.