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!style=”background:{{party color|Communist Party of Vietnam}}; color:white” | 14
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|[[File:Lương Cường in Chile.jpg|85px]]
|[[File:Lương Cường .jpg|85px]]
|[[Lương Cường]]<br>{{small|(1957–)}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=Tiểu sử tân Chủ tịch nước Lương Cường |url=https://media.chinhphu.vn/infographics-tieu-su-tan-chu-tich-nuoc-luong-cuong-102241021124716089.htm |website=chinhphu.vn}}</ref>
|[[Lương Cường]]<br>{{small|(1957–)}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=Tiểu sử tân Chủ tịch nước Lương Cường |url=https://media.chinhphu.vn/infographics-tieu-su-tan-chu-tich-nuoc-luong-cuong-102241021124716089.htm |website=chinhphu.vn}}</ref>
|21 October 2024<ref>{{cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=Army General Lương Cường becomes the President of Vietnam since 21 October 2024 |url=https://vnexpress.net/thuong-truc-ban-bi-thu-luong-cuong-lam-chu-tich-nuoc-4806304.html|website=VnExpress}}</ref>
|21 October 2024<ref>{{cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=Army General Lương Cường becomes the President of Vietnam since 21 October 2024 |url=https://vnexpress.net/thuong-truc-ban-bi-thu-luong-cuong-lam-chu-tich-nuoc-4806304.html|website=VnExpress}}</ref>
This is a list of presidents (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch nước) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) and its predecessor state, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), from the establishment of the position (1945) to the present.[1][2]
Vietnam is a single-party state and 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.[3] In its current incarnation, the officeholder is the head of state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as well as the head of government in tandem with prime minister.[citation needed] 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-president, 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 but one[e] presidents of the Democratic Republic and its successor Socialist Republic have been members of the party (or its predecessors) while holding office.
The modern office of the president of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to Hồ Chí Minh, the first president of the Democratic Republic.[f] The office has no connection, or lineage,[citation needed] to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, headed by National Liberation Front revolutionary Nguyễn Hữu Thọ. There have been 14 presidents since the office’s establishment in 1945. The current president is Lương Cường since 21 October 2024.[4][5]
Hồ Chí Minh, the first officeholder, became president in 1945 after Vietnam’s declaration of independence. Tô Lâm is the shortest-serving president, with 152 days (from May 22, 2024 to October 21, 2024), if not counting interim presidents. The longest-serving president was Hồ Chí Minh, with 24 years from 1945 to his death in 1969. He also served the most terms in office (1945, 1946, 1960, 1964) — tied with Tôn Đức Thắng, who was also in office for 4 terms (1969, 1971, 1975, 1976). The Constitution stipulates that the term of office of the president shall follow 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.[citation needed] The president with the longest interim term is Nguyễn Hữu Thọ with 1 year and 96 days, longer than the term of official President Võ Văn Thưởng, which lasted 1 year and 19 days.
Democratic Republic (1945–1976)
[edit]
- Status
Denotes Acting President
Socialist Republic (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/ Communist Party of Vietnam |
| — | 
|
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 (1937–2025) |
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 | _(cropped).jpg)
|
Võ Văn Thưởng (1970–) [6] |
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 | .jpg)
|
Tô Lâm[d] (1957–)[7] |
22 May 2024[8] | 21 October 2024 | 152 days | May 2024 | Communist Party of Vietnam |
| 14 | 
|
Lương Cường (1957–)[9] |
21 October 2024[10] | Incumbent | 1 year, 49 days | October 2024 | Communist Party of Vietnam |
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 | 16 | Lương Cường | CPV | 1 year, 49 days |
| 14 | 12 | Võ Văn Thưởng | CPV | 1 year, 18 days |
| 15 | 13 | Tô Lâm | CPV | 152 days |
| 16 | — | Huỳnh Thúc Kháng | None | 145 days |
| 17 | — | Võ Thị Ánh Xuân | CPV | 105 days |
| 18 | — | Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh | CPV | 32 days |
- 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.
- e.^ Except Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, an independent who served as Acting President from May to October 1946.
- f.^ Also known as North Vietnam following the 1954 Geneva Conference.
