General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, less formally the party general secretary or simply the general secretary, is the holder of the highest office within the Communist Party of Vietnam and practically being the foremost political figure in Vietnam. The general secretaryship used to be the second-highest office within the party when Hồ Chí Minh was the chairman, a post which existed from 1951 to 1969, and since 1969, the general secretary has generally been regarded as the de facto leader of Vietnam. The general secretary also holds the title of the secretary of the Central Military Commission, the leading party organ on military affairs. The current general secretary is Nguyễn Phú Trọng, ranking first in the Politburo. The position was once designated the first secretary from 1951 to 1976. Trần Phú, one of the founding members of the Indochinese Communist Party, was the party's first general secretary. A year after being elected, he was sentenced to prison by the French authorities because of anti-French activities. He died in prison the same year. Trần's de facto successor was Lê Hồng Phong who led the party through the office of General Secretary of the Overseas Executive Committee (OEC). The OEC general secretary led the party because the Central Committee had been all but annihilated. Hà Huy Tập, the third general secretary, was removed from his post in March 1938, and was arrested by the authorities in May. Nguyễn Văn Cừ, the fourth general secretary, was arrested by the authorities in June 1940, and executed by shooting on 25 May 1941. He was succeeded by Trường Chinh in May 1941. An article in Nhân Dân on 25 March 1951 described Trường Chinh's role as the "builder and commander" of the revolution, while Hồ Chí Minh was referred to as "the soul of the Vietnamese revolution and the Vietnamese resistance". Trường Chinh was demoted as first secretary in 1956 because of his role in the Land Reform campaign". Hồ Chí Minh took over the office of first secretary, but quickly appointed Lê Duẩn acting first secretary. Duẩn was elected first secretary in 1960, and was second only to Hồ Chí Minh until the latter's death on 2 September 1969. From 2 September 1969 until his death on 10 July 1986, Duẩn was the undisputed leader of Vietnam. He died two months before the next National Party Congress.