Leaders of the Vietnam War

The Leaders of the Vietnam War listed below comprise the important political and military figures of the Vietnam War.

Contents 1 Anti-Communist forces 1.1 South Vietnam 1.1.1 Political 1.2 United States of America 1.2.1 Political 1.2.2 Military 1.3 Republic of Korea 1.4 Australia 1.5 New Zealand 1.6 Philippines 1.7 Thailand 1.8 Khmer Republic 1.9 Kingdom of Laos 2 Communist forces 2.1 North Vietnam 2.1.1 Political 2.1.2 Military 2.2 National Liberation Front of South Vietnam 2.3 Khmer Rouge 2.4 Pathet Lao 2.5 People's Republic of China 2.6 Soviet Union

Anti-Communist forces

South Vietnam

Political

• Ngo Dinh Diem was the President of South Vietnam from 1955 until his death in 1963.

• Ngo Dinh Nhu was Diem's younger brother and generally regarded as the architect of the Ngo family's rule.

• Duong Van Minh led the South Vietnamese Army under President Diệm and was briefly leader of South Vietnam in 1963 and 1975. He was the last president.

• Nguyen Thanh was a general who was in power from early 1964 to 1965.

• Nguyen Van Thieu was the President of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975.

• Nguyen Cao Ky was the Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967 and the Vice President from 1967 to 1971.

• Tran Van Huong was the second last President of South Vietnam before its surrender in 1975.

United States of America

Political

• Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961.

• John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 until his death in 1963.

• Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States from 1963 until 1969.

• Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until he resigned in 1974.

• Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States from 1974 to 1977.

• Robert McNamara was the 8th Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968.

• Clark Clifford was the 9th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1968 to 1969.

• Melvin R. Laird was the 10th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973.

• James R. Schlesinger was the 12th Secretary of Defense, serving under President Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1973 to 1975.

• Henry Kissinger was the 8th National Security Advisor and the 56th Secretary of State, serving under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1969 to 1977.

Military

• Earle Wheeler was a United States Army General who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1964 to 1970.

• Thomas Hinman Moorer was a U.S. admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 to 1974.

• William Westmoreland was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968

• Creighton Abrams was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972

• Frederick C. Weyand was a former U.S. Army General who was the last commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972 to 1973.

• Elmo Zumwalt was an American naval officer and commander of American naval forces in Vietnam.

• William W. Momyer was commander of the U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command and the commander of the 7th Air Force.

• John S. McCain, Jr. was an American admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command.

Republic of Korea

• Park Chung-hee was the President of the Republic of Korea from 1963 until his assassination in 1979.

• Chae Myung Shin was the Commander of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in Vietnam from 1965 to 1969.

• Lee Sae-ho was the Commander of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in Vietnam from 1969 to 1973.

Australia

• Robert Menzies was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1949 to 1966.

• Harold Holt was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967.

• John Gorton was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971.

• Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger was Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1961 to 1966.

• Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Pollard was Chief of Army from 1960 to 1963.

• Ted Serong was a senior officer of the Australian Army and commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam from 1962 until 1965.

• Donald Dunstan is a former Australian Army officer, who was commander of Australian Forces in Vietnam in 1971 and 1972.

New Zealand

• Keith Holyoake was the Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1960 to 1972.

Philippines

• Ferdinand Marcos was the President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986.

Thailand

• Thanom Kittikachorn was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1963 to 1973.

Khmer Republic

• Lon Nol was the Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1966 to 1967 and then again in 1969 to 1972, after which he was President until 1975.

• Sosthene Fernandez was the commander-in-chief of the Khmer National Armed Forces of Lon Nol's Khmer Republic.

Kingdom of Laos

• Vang Pao is a former Major General of the Royal Lao Army.

Communist forces

North Vietnam

Political

• Ho Chi Minh was prime minister from 1946 to 1955 and President from 1945 until his death in 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).

• Le Duan was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and leader of North Vietnam & later the unified Vietnam from 1969 until his death in 1986.

• Ton Duc Thang was the second and final President of North Vietnam and the first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

• Pham Van Dong was the Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976.

• Le Duc Tho was a Vietnamese politician who, as North Vietnam's representative, negotiated the Paris Peace Accords.

Military

• Vo Nguyen Giap was the Vietnamese General in the Vietnam People's Army (NVA), Commander-in-Chief of PAVN and was one of the most prominent military leaders during the war.

• Van Tien Dung was a Vietnamese general in the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), PAVN chief of staff (1954–1974); PAVN commander in chief (1974–1980); and Socialist Republic of Vietnam defense minister (1980–1986).

• Hoang Van Thai was the General Staff formed National Army, after holding The first Chief of General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam

• Nguyen Huu An was a general in the Vietnamese People's Army, commander of the 2nd Army Corp.

• Le Trong Tan was a general and key figure of the Vietnamese People's Army, he was the deputy commander of the Vietcong and held senior commands in the Easter Offensive and the Ho Chi Minh campaign.

• Hoang Minh Thao was a general and military theorist of Vietnamese People's Army and an advisor to the Vietcong.

National Liberation Front of South Vietnam

• Nguyen Huu Tho was the chairman of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam

• Hoang Van Thai was one of the leading commanders of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (1967 - 1973, during the U.S. buildup in South Vietnam), during the Tet Offensive he was the most senior North Vietnamese Officer in South Vietnam.

• Tran Van Tra was one of the leading commanders of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and a member of the Central Committee of the Lao Dong Party.

• Tran Do was the deputy commander of the Vietcong

• Nguyen Van Linh was a political leader of the Vietcong during the Vietnam War who served as party secretary of South Vietnam for Communist Party of Vietnam.

• Vo Chi Cong was a Vietnamese Communist political figure who was one of the founding members of Vietcong.

• Huynh Tan Phat chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam from 1969 to 1976.

Khmer Rouge

• Pol Pot was the leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Khmer Rouge.

• Khieu Samphan was the head of the CPNLAF, the Khmer Rouge armed forces.

Pathet Lao

• Souphanouvong was the figurehead leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and upon its successful seizure of power in 1975, he became the first President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic

• Phoumi Vongvichit] was a leading figure of the Pathet Lao and an elder statesman of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

People's Republic of China

• Mao Zedong was the leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976.

Soviet Union

• Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 until 1964.

• Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982.

• Rodion Malinovsky was the Marshal of the Soviet Union Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1957-1967m

• Andrei Grechko was the Marshal of the Soviet Union Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1967-1976m

• Anatoliy Hiuppinen was the commander of the Soviet forces stationed in Vietnam