List of presidents of Vietnam explained

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 Tô Lâm since 22 May 2024. 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 11 presidents, although the count is 12 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. Võ Văn Thưởng is the shortest-serving president, with 1 year 19 days from 2023 to 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)

Status
PortraitName
Term of OfficePolitical Party
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1Hồ Chí Minh
2 September 19452 September 1969
(Died in office)
24 yearsIndochinese Communist Party

Worker's Party of Vietnam
Huỳnh Thúc Kháng
29 May 194621 October 1946Independent
Tôn Đức Thắng
2 September 196923 September 1969Worker's Party of Vietnam
223 September 19692 July 1976

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)

Status
PortraitName
Term of OfficeElectionPolitical Party
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
(2)Tôn Đức Thắng
2 July 197630 March 1980
(Died in office)
1976Worker's Party of Vietnam

Communist Party of Vietnam
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
30 March 19804 July 1981Communist Party of Vietnam
3Trường Chinh
4 July 198118 June 1987Communist Party of Vietnam
4Võ Chí Công
18 June 198722 September 1992Communist Party of Vietnam
5Lê Đức Anh
23 September 199224 September 19971992Communist Party of Vietnam
6Trần Đức Lương
24 September 199727 June 2006
(Resigned from office)
1997Communist Party of Vietnam
7Nguyễn Minh Triết
27 June 200625 July 20112006Communist Party of Vietnam
8Trương Tấn Sang
25 July 20112 April 20162011Communist Party of Vietnam
9Trần Đại Quang
2 April 201621 September 2018
(Died in office)
2016Communist Party of Vietnam
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh
21 September 201823 October 2018Communist Party of Vietnam
10Nguyễn Phú Trọng
23 October 20185 April 20212018Communist Party of Vietnam
11Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
5 April 202118 January 2023
(Resigned from office)
2021Communist Party of Vietnam
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân
18 January 20232 March 2023Communist Party of Vietnam
12Võ Văn Thưởng
2 March 202321 March 2024
(Resigned from office)
2023Communist Party of Vietnam
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân
21 March 202422 May 2024Communist Party of Vietnam
13Tô Lâm
[1]
22 May 2024[2] Incumbent2024Communist Party of Vietnam

List of presidents by length of tenure

RankNo.NamePartyLength of term
data-sort-value="1" 11Hồ Chí MinhICP/WPV24 years
data-sort-value="2" 22Tôn Đức ThắngWPV/CPV10 years, 210 days
data-sort-value="3" 36Trần Đức LươngCPV8 years, 276 days
data-sort-value="5" 43Trường ChinhCPV5 years, 349 days
data-sort-value="6" 54Võ Chí CôngCPV5 years, 97 days
data-sort-value="7" 67Nguyễn Minh TriếtCPV5 years, 28 days
data-sort-value="8" 75Lê Đức AnhCPV5 years
data-sort-value="9" 88Trương Tấn SangCPV4 years, 252 days
data-sort-value="10" 99Trần Đại QuangCPV2 years, 172 days
data-sort-value="11" 1010Nguyễn Phú TrọngCPV
data-sort-value="12" 1111Nguyễn Xuân PhúcCPV
data-sort-value="4" 12Nguyễn Hữu ThọCPV1 year, 96 days
data-sort-value="16" 1312Võ Văn ThưởngCPV
data-sort-value="14" 14Huỳnh Thúc KhángNone145 days
data-sort-value="11" 15Võ Thị Ánh XuânCPV105 days
1613Tô LâmCPV
data-sort-value="13" 17Đặng Thị Ngọc ThịnhCPV32 days

See also

Notes

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.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tóm tắt tiểu sử Bộ trưởng Bộ Công an Tô Lâm. Chính phủ Việt Nam. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115104709/http://chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/tieusulanhdao?personProfileId=1959&govOrgId=2856. 2020-11-15. dead. 15 November 2020.
  2. Web site: 22 May 2024 . General To Lam becomes the President of Vietnam since 22 May 2024 . VnExpress.