List of presidents of Vietnam

This is a list of those who have served as president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Chủ tịch nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) from the establishment of the position to the present. Since Vietnam is a single-party state, 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. In its current incarnation the president is the head of state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as well as the head of government in tandem with prime minister. 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-presidents, 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 the presidents of the Democratic Republic and its successor Socialist Republic have been members of the party while holding office. The current President is Tô Lâm since 22 May 2024. The modern office of the president of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to Hồ Chí Minh, the first President of the North Vietnam, and the office has no connection, or lineage, officially at least, to the head of state of the former Communist South Vietnam (Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a communist and the head of state of South Vietnam). Officially there have been 11 presidents, although the count is 12 presidents should the one declared president of South Vietnam be counted.

Hồ Chí Minh, the first President, became President in 1945 after Vietnam's independence. Võ Văn Thưởng is the shortest serving President with 1 year 19 days from 2023 to 2024 if not counting interim people. Hồ Chí Minh had the longest time as President with 24 years from 1945 to his death in 1969. He was also the President who served the most terms with 4 terms (1945, 1946, 1960, 1964). Meanwhile, Tôn Đức Thắng was also the President in office for 4 terms (1969, 1971, 1975, 1976). The Constitution stipulates that the term of office of the President follows 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. The President with the longest interim term is Nguyễn Hữu Thọ with 1 year and 96 days, longer than the official President Võ Văn Thưởng with only 1 year 19 days.

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam, 1945–1976)
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Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)
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