Final answer:
North Vietnam was governed by a Communist government under the leadership of HoChiMinh following the country's temporary division at the 17th parallel after its independence from France in 1954.
Step-by-step explanation:
North Vietnam was run under a Communist government led by HoChiMinh since its division at the 17th parallel after Vietnam gained independence from France and the end of the war in 1954. HoChiMinh, a seasoned leader who had formed a Communist resistance group earlier, became the head of the government in North Vietnam which was heavily influenced by Communist ideology. In contrast, South Vietnam's government, led initially by NgoDinhDiem, adopted a more capitalist and anti-Communist stance, which was supported by the United States.
As such, Vietnam's national landscape throughout much of the Cold War and the Vietnam War was characterized by the dividing ideologies: the Communist North and the capitalist South. The North was expected to reunify with the South after planned national elections in 1956, but this was thwarted as Diem cancelled the elections, further entrenching the divide. This division set the stage for the conflict known as the Vietnam War, which saw Vietnam ultimately unified under a Communist regime after the North Vietnamese victory in 1975.