Ho Chi Minh

About Ho Chi Minh

The Vietnamese communist leader who led the independence movement against France and the struggle against the United States. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence in 1945, quoting the American Declaration of Independence. He led the Viet Minh to victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. He died in 1969, six years before the fall of Saigon completed the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule. Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist who adopted communism as the path to independence. He lived simply and was called Uncle Ho. The city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the war.