List of presidents of Vietnam

This is a list of those who have served as president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) from the establishment of the position to the present. Since Vietnam is a single-party state, the president is generally considered to hold the second highest position in the political system, after the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In its current incarnation the president is the head of state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as well as the head of government in tandem with prime minister. The president represents Vietnam internally and externally, supervises the work as well as preserving the stability of the national governmental system and safeguards the independence and territorial integrity of the country. The president appoints prime minister, vice-presidents, ministers and other officials with the consent of the National Assembly. The head of state is the de jure commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and chairman of the Council for Defence and Security, an organ of the National Assembly. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Vietnam being the sole party allowed by the constitution, all the presidents of the Democratic Republic and its successor Socialist Republic have been members of the party while holding office. The current president is Lương Cường since 21 October 2024.[1][2]

The modern office of the president of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to Hồ Chí Minh, the first president of the North Vietnam, and the office has no connection, or lineage, officially at least, to the head of state of the former Communist South Vietnam (Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a communist and the head of state of South Vietnam). Officially there have been 14 presidents, although the count is 15 presidents should the one declared president of South Vietnam be counted.

Hồ Chí Minh, the first president, became president in 1945 after Vietnam's independence. Tô Lâm is the shortest-serving president, with 152 days (from May 22, 2024 to October 21, 2024) if not counting interim people. Hồ Chí Minh had the longest time as president, with 24 years from 1945 to his death in 1969. He was also the president who served the most terms with 4 terms (1945, 1946, 1960, 1964). Meanwhile, Tôn Đức Thắng was also the president in office for 4 terms (1969, 1971, 1975, 1976). The Constitution stipulates that the term of office of the president follows the term of the National Assembly (usually 5 years) and there is no limit to the number of re-elections. However, most presidents serve for one term. The president with the longest interim term is Nguyễn Hữu Thọ with 1 year and 96 days, longer than the official President Võ Văn Thưởng with only 1 year 19 days.

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam, 1945–1976)

[edit]
Status
  Denotes Acting President
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of Office Political Party
Took office Left office Time in office
President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–1975)
1 Hồ Chí Minh[b]
(1890–1969)
2 September 1945 2 September 1969
(Died in office)
24 years Indochinese Communist Party
(until February 1951)
Worker's Party of Vietnam
(from February 1951)
Huỳnh Thúc Kháng
(1876–1947)
29 May 1946 21 October 1946 145 days Independent
Tôn Đức Thắng
(1888–1980)
2 September 1969 23 September 1969 21 days Worker's Party of Vietnam
2 23 September 1969 2 July 1976 6 years, 283 days
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of Office Political Party
Took office Left office Time in office
Chairman of the Consultative Council of the
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
(1910–1996)
8 June 1969 2 July 1976 7 years, 24 days People's Revolutionary Party of Vietnam
(National Liberation Front)
(influenced by Worker's Party of Vietnam)

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)

[edit]
Status
  Denotes Acting President
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of Office Election Political Party
Took office Left office Time in office
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(2) Tôn Đức Thắng
(1888–1980)
2 July 1976 30 March 1980
(Died in office)
3 years, 272 days 1976 Worker's Party of Vietnam
(until December 1976)
Communist Party of Vietnam
(from December 1976)
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
(1910–1996)
30 March 1980 4 July 1981 1 year, 96 days Communist Party of Vietnam
Chairman of the Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
3 Trường Chinh
(1907–1988)
4 July 1981 18 June 1987 5 years, 349 days Communist Party of Vietnam
4 Võ Chí Công
(1912–2011)
18 June 1987 22 September 1992 5 years, 96 days Communist Party of Vietnam
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
5 Lê Đức Anh
(1920–2019)
23 September 1992 24 September 1997 5 years, 1 day 1992 Communist Party of Vietnam
6 Trần Đức Lương
(1937–)
24 September 1997 27 June 2006
(Resigned from office)
8 years, 276 days 1997 Communist Party of Vietnam
7 Nguyễn Minh Triết
(1942–)
27 June 2006 25 July 2011 5 years, 28 days 2006 Communist Party of Vietnam
8 Trương Tấn Sang
(1949–)
25 July 2011 2 April 2016 4 years, 252 days 2011 Communist Party of Vietnam
9 Trần Đại Quang
(1956–2018)
2 April 2016 21 September 2018
(Died in office)
2 years, 172 days 2016 Communist Party of Vietnam
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh
(1959–)
21 September 2018 23 October 2018 32 days Communist Party of Vietnam
10 Nguyễn Phú Trọng[c]
(1944–2024)
23 October 2018 5 April 2021 2 years, 164 days 2018 Communist Party of Vietnam
11 Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
(1954–)
5 April 2021 18 January 2023
(Resigned from office)
1 year, 288 days 2021 Communist Party of Vietnam
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân
(1970–)
18 January 2023 2 March 2023 43 days Communist Party of Vietnam
12 Võ Văn Thưởng
(1970–) [3]
2 March 2023 21 March 2024
(Resigned from office)
1 year, 19 days 2023 Communist Party of Vietnam
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân
(1970–)
21 March 2024 22 May 2024 62 days Communist Party of Vietnam
13 Tô Lâm[d]
(1957–)[4]
22 May 2024[5] 21 October 2024 152 days May 2024 Communist Party of Vietnam
14 Lương Cường
(1957–)[6]
21 October 2024[7] Incumbent 32 days October 2024 Communist Party of Vietnam

Timeline

[edit]
Lương CườngTô LâmVõ Văn ThưởngVõ Thị Ánh XuânNguyễn Xuân PhúcNguyễn Phú TrọngĐặng Thị Ngọc ThịnhTrần Đại QuangTrương Tấn SangNguyễn Minh TriếtTrần Đức LươngLê Đức AnhVõ Chí CôngTrường ChinhNguyễn Hữu ThọTôn Đức ThắngHuỳnh Thúc KhángHồ Chí Minh

List of presidents by length of tenure

[edit]
Rank No. Name Party Length of term
1 1 Hồ Chí Minh ICP/WPV 24 years
2 2 Tôn Đức Thắng WPV/CPV 10 years, 210 days
3 6 Trần Đức Lương CPV 8 years, 276 days
4 3 Trường Chinh CPV 5 years, 349 days
5 4 Võ Chí Công CPV 5 years, 97 days
6 7 Nguyễn Minh Triết CPV 5 years, 28 days
7 5 Lê Đức Anh CPV 5 years
8 8 Trương Tấn Sang CPV 4 years, 252 days
9 9 Trần Đại Quang CPV 2 years, 172 days
10 10 Nguyễn Phú Trọng CPV 2 years, 164 days
11 11 Nguyễn Xuân Phúc CPV 1 year, 288 days
12 Nguyễn Hữu Thọ CPV 1 year, 96 days
13 12 Võ Văn Thưởng CPV 1 year, 18 days
14 13 Tô Lâm CPV 152 days
15 Huỳnh Thúc Kháng None 145 days
16 Võ Thị Ánh Xuân CPV 105 days
17 14 Lương Cường CPV 32 days
18 Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh CPV 32 days

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
a.^ These numbers are official. The "—" denotes acting head of state. The first column shows how many presidents there have been in Vietnamese history, while the second show how many presidents there was in that state.
b.^ Concurrently serving as the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam.
c.^ Concurrently serving as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
d.^ Concurrently serving as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since 3 August 2024.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Trí, Dân (21 October 2024). "Ông Lương Cường giữ chức Chủ tịch nước". Báo điện tử Dân Trí (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  2. ^ ONLINE, TUOI TRE (21 October 2024). "Đại tướng Lương Cường được bjl làm Chủ tịch nước". TUOI TRE ONLINE (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Biography of Mr. Vo Van Thuong, Vietnamese State President". chinhphu.vn.
  4. ^ "Tóm tắt tiểu sử Bộ trưởng Bộ Công an Tô Lâm". Chính phủ Việt Nam. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020.
  5. ^ "General To Lam becomes the President of Vietnam since 22 May 2024". VnExpress. 22 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Tiểu sử tân Chủ tịch nước Lương Cường". chinhphu.vn. 21 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Army General Lương Cường becomes the President of Vietnam since 21 October 2024". VnExpress. 21 October 2024.

Bibliography

[edit]