Vietnam: President Ho Chi Minh talking with General Vo Nguyen Giap, Hanoi, 1962

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).

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.

He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.

Vo Nguyen Giap (Vietnamese: Võ Nguyên Giáp) born 25 August, 1911, died 4 October 2013, was a Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People's Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Second Indochina War (1960–1975). He participated in the following historically significant battles: Lạng Sơn (1950); Hòa Bình (1951–1952); Điện Biên Phủ (1954); the Tết Offensive (1968); the Nguyên Huế Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive) (1972); and the final Hồ Chí Minh Campaign (1975).

He was also a journalist, an interior minister in President Hồ Chí Minh’s Việt Minh government, the military commander of the Việt Minh, the commander of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), and defense minister.

He also served as Politburo member of the Vietnamese Communist Party. He was the most prominent military commander together with Hồ Chí Minh during the war and was responsible for major operations and leadership until the war ended.

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