Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary, politician and patriot, President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 1945 to 1969.
He founded in 1941 the Viet Minh movement ("League for the independence of Vietnam") to fight for independence against France. In 1945 he carried the country to independence, being acclaimed president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He led North Vietnam, officially recognized at the 1954 Geneva Conference, during the Vietnam War until 1969, the year of his death.