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Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam ) established in 1930, is the highest authority within the Communist Party of Vietnam elected by the Party National Congresses.<br/><br/> The current Central Committee has about 175 full members and 25 alternate members and nominally appoints the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The Second Indochina War, known in America as the Vietnam War, was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist nations. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment.<br/><br/> The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive.<br/><br/> U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the US-Vietnam War.
Lê Đức Thọ, born Phan Đình Khải in Hà Nam Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, but he declined it.<br/><br/> In 1930, Le Duc Tho helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. French colonial authorities imprisoned him from 1930 to 1936 and again from 1939 to 1944. After his release in 1945, he helped lead the Viet Minh, the Vietnamese independence movement, against the French, until the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954. In 1948, he was in South Vietnam as Deputy Secretary, Head of the Organization Department of Cochinchina Committee Party.<br/><br/> He then joined the Lao Dong Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party in 1955, now the Communist Party of Vietnam. Tho oversaw the Communist insurgency that began in 1956 against the South Vietnamese government. In 1963 Tho supported the purges of the Party surrounding Resolution 9.<br/><br/> From 1978 to 1982 Le Duc Tho was named by Hanoi to act as chief advisor to the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) and later to the nascent People's Republic of Kampuchea. Lê Đức Thọ's mission was to ensure that Khmer nationalism would not override Vietnam's interests in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown.<br/><br/> He was the Standing Member of the Central Committee's Secretariat of the Party from 1982 to 1986 and later became the Advisor of Party's Central Committee.
Nguyễn Phú Trọng (born 14 April 1944) is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, elected at the party's 11th National Congress on 19 January 2011. Trong heads the party's Secretariat, as well as the Central Military Commission, the country's two most powerful policymaking bodies.<br/><br/> Trọng was born in Đông Hội Commune, Đông Anh District, Hanoi. His official biography gives his family background only as 'poor peasant'. He studied philology at Vietnam National University, Hanoi from 1963-67. Trọng officially joined the Communist Party in December 1968. He worked for the Tạp chí Cộng Sản (Communist Review), the theoretical and political agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the periods of 1967-73, 1976–80, and 1983–96. From 1991-96, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Tạp chí Cộng Sản.<br/><br/> Trọng has been member of the Party's Central Committee since January 1994, member of the Party's Political Bureau since December 1997, and deputy to the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam since May 2002. From January 2000 to June 2006, Trọng was secretary of the Party's Executive Committee of Hanoi, the de facto head of the city authority. On 26 June 2006, Trọng was elected as the Chairman of the National Assembly.
Lê Duẩn (7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was a Vietnamese communist politician. He rose in the party hierarchy in the late 1950s and became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP) at the 3rd National Congress in 1960. He continued Hồ Chí Minh's policy of ruling through collective leadership. From the mid-1960s, when Hồ's health was failing, until his own death in 1986, he was the top decision-maker in Vietnam.<br/><br/> He was born into a lower-class family in Quảng Trị province, in the central part of French Indochina as Lê Văn Nhuận. Little is known about his family and childhood. He first came in contact with Marxist literature in the 1920s through his work as a railway clerk. Lê Duẩn was a founding member of the Indochina Communist Party (the future Communist Party of Vietnam) in 1930. He was imprisoned in 1931 and released in 1937. From 1937 to 1939 he climbed the party ladder. He was rearrested in 1939, this time for fomenting an uprising in the South. Lê Duẩn was released from jail following the successful communist-led August Revolution.<br/><br/> During the First Indochina War, Lê Duẩn was an active communist cadre in the South. He headed the Central Office of South Vietnam, a party organ, from 1951 until 1954. During the 1950s Lê Duẩn became increasingly aggressive towards the South and called for reunification through war. By the mid-to-late 1950s Lê Duẩn had become the second-most powerful policy-maker within the Party, eclipsing former party First Secretary Trường Chinh. By 1960, he was officially the second-most powerful party member, after party chairman Hồ. Throughout the 1960s Hồ's health declined and Lê Duẩn assumed more of his responsibilities. On 2 September 1969, Hồ died and Lê Duẩn became the most powerful figure in the North.<br/><br/> Throughout the Vietnam War, Lê Duẩn took an aggressive posture. He saw attack as the key to victory. When the North finally won the war in 1975, Lê Duẩn and his associates were overly optimistic about the future. The Second Five-Year Plan (1976–1980) was a failure and left the Vietnamese economy in crisis. Vietnam was then headed by a gerontocracy (in which the rulers are much older than the average adult). Vietnam became internationally isolated during Lê Duẩn's rule. In 1979 the country had invaded Kampuchea and ousted Pol Pot, fought a war with China and became dependent on Soviet economic aid. Lê Duẩn died in 1986 and was succeeded by Trường Chinh in July.
Lê Duẩn (7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was a Vietnamese communist politician. He rose in the party hierarchy in the late 1950s and became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP) at the 3rd National Congress in 1960. He continued Hồ Chí Minh's policy of ruling through collective leadership. From the mid-1960s, when Hồ's health was failing, until his own death in 1986, he was the top decision-maker in Vietnam.<br/><br/> He was born into a lower-class family in Quảng Trị province, in the central part of French Indochina as Lê Văn Nhuận. Little is known about his family and childhood. He first came in contact with Marxist literature in the 1920s through his work as a railway clerk. Lê Duẩn was a founding member of the Indochina Communist Party (the future Communist Party of Vietnam) in 1930. He was imprisoned in 1931 and released in 1937. From 1937 to 1939 he climbed the party ladder. He was rearrested in 1939, this time for fomenting an uprising in the South. Lê Duẩn was released from jail following the successful communist-led August Revolution.<br/><br/> During the First Indochina War, Lê Duẩn was an active communist cadre in the South. He headed the Central Office of South Vietnam, a party organ, from 1951 until 1954. During the 1950s Lê Duẩn became increasingly aggressive towards the South and called for reunification through war. By the mid-to-late 1950s Lê Duẩn had become the second-most powerful policy-maker within the Party, eclipsing former party First Secretary Trường Chinh. By 1960, he was officially the second-most powerful party member, after party chairman Hồ. Throughout the 1960s Hồ's health declined and Lê Duẩn assumed more of his responsibilities. On 2 September 1969, Hồ died and Lê Duẩn became the most powerful figure in the North.<br/><br/> Throughout the Vietnam War, Lê Duẩn took an aggressive posture. He saw attack as the key to victory. When the North finally won the war in 1975, Lê Duẩn and his associates were overly optimistic about the future. The Second Five-Year Plan (1976–1980) was a failure and left the Vietnamese economy in crisis. Vietnam was then headed by a gerontocracy (in which the rulers are much older than the average adult). Vietnam became internationally isolated during Lê Duẩn's rule. In 1979 the country had invaded Kampuchea and ousted Pol Pot, fought a war with China and became dependent on Soviet economic aid. Lê Duẩn died in 1986 and was succeeded by Trường Chinh in July.
Lê Đức Thọ, born Phan Đình Khải in Hà Nam Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, but he declined it.<br/><br/> In 1930, Le Duc Tho helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. French colonial authorities imprisoned him from 1930 to 1936 and again from 1939 to 1944. After his release in 1945, he helped lead the Viet Minh, the Vietnamese independence movement, against the French, until the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954. In 1948, he was in South Vietnam as Deputy Secretary, Head of the Organization Department of Cochinchina Committee Party.<br/><br/> He then joined the Lao Dong Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party in 1955, now the Communist Party of Vietnam. Tho oversaw the Communist insurgency that began in 1956 against the South Vietnamese government. In 1963 Tho supported the purges of the Party surrounding Resolution 9.<br/><br/> From 1978 to 1982 Le Duc Tho was named by Hanoi to act as chief advisor to the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) and later to the nascent People's Republic of Kampuchea. Lê Đức Thọ's mission was to ensure that Khmer nationalism would not override Vietnam's interests in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown.<br/><br/> He was the Standing Member of the Central Committee's Secretariat of the Party from 1982 to 1986 and later became the Advisor of Party's Central Committee.