A 20th century nationalist in Vietnam who formed
Vietnam's first and only Communist party and dedicated it to fighting for independence
from the French. While fighting the French from 1945 to 1954, Vietnam was split
into two sides. The North (capital at Hanoi), which was Communist-occupied and
the South (capital at Saigon), which was still controlled by the French.
Through the Geneva accords, free elections were
to be held in the North and the south to obtain a new leader for a unified Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh would have easily won, so the South Vietnamese dictator, Ngo Diem, refused to participate in the
sanctioned elections. The U.S. fully supported Diem's action, and this started
some rebellion in the South by people who came to be known as the Viet Cong.
The leader of the Viet Minh and folk hero of
Vietnam, he was supported universally by the Vietnamese as a national hero.
He died, unfortunately many years before the war ended, and his goal to be alive
to see a unified Vietnam was never attained.