Leaders of the Vietnam War

Anti-Communist forces[]

South Vietnam[]

Political[]

Ngô Đình Diệm was the President of South Vietnam from 1955 until his assassination in 1963.
Ngô Đình Nhu was Diệm's younger brother and generally regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's rule.
Dương Văn 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 Khanh was a general who was in power from early 1964 to 1965.
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was a general who became the President of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975.
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was an air force chief who became the Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967 and the Vice President from 1967 to 1971.
Trần Văn Hương was the second to last President of South Vietnam before its surrender in 1975.

Military[]

Hoàng Xuân Lãm was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, commander of I Corps (1967–1972).
Lê Nguyên Khang was the commander of the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps.
Ngô Quang Trưởng a lieutenant general and commander of the I Corps (1972–1975).

United States[]

Political[]

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 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 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.
George Stephen Morrison was an American Rear Navy Admiral in Command during the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which escalated the U.S involvement in Vietnam.

Republic of Korea[]

Park Chung-hee was the President of South 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.

Australia[]

Sir 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.
Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975.
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 to 1965.
Donald Dunstan was an 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.
Jack Marshall was the Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1972.
Norman Kirk was the Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 to 1974.

Philippines[]

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

Taiwan[]

Chiang Kai Shek was the President of the Republic of China from 1948 to 1975

Thailand[]

Sarit Thanarat Prime minister of Thailand from 1958 to 1963 against the communist Pathet Lao guerrillas in the neighboring Kingdom of Laos. During his years as prime minister Sarit was a patron of his cousin, the Lao strongman General Phoumi Nosavan, against the communist Pathet Lao guerrillas in the neighboring Kingdom of Laos.
Thanom Kittikachorn Prime minister of Thailand from 1963 to 1973 and Chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces from 1967 to 1972.
Praphas Charusathien Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 1964 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[]

Souvanna Phouma was the prince of Laos and a political figure.
Vang Pao was a major general in the Royal Lao Army and commander of the Hmong guerrilla forces that had a large impact on the war.

Spain[]

Francisco Franco was the Caudillo of Spain from 1939 to 1975.

Communist forces[]

North Vietnam[]

Political[]

Hồ Chí Minh was prime minister from 1946 to 1955, president from 1945 and Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam from 1951 until his death in 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
Lê Duẩn was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, leader of North Vietnam and later the unified Vietnam from 1969 until his death in 1986.
Tôn Đức Thắng was the second and final President of North Vietnam and the first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Phạm Văn Đồng was the Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976.
Lê Đức Thọ was a Vietnamese politician who, as North Vietnam's representative, negotiated the Paris Peace Accords.
Trường Chinh was ranked in the top 3 of the Vietnamese Politburo from 1941 to 1986 and both preceded and succeeded Lê Duẩn as General Secretary.

Military[]

Võ Nguyên Giáp was the Vietnamese General in the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Commander-in-Chief of PAVN and was one of the most prominent military leaders during the war.
Văn Tiến Dũng 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).
Hoàng Văn Thái was a member of the General Staff of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), after holding The first Chief of General Staff of the PAVN.
Nguyễn Hữu An was a general in the Vietnam People's Army, commander of the 2nd Army Corps.
Lê Trọng Tấn was a general and key figure of the Vietnam People's Army, he was the deputy commander of the Viet Cong and held senior commands in the Easter Offensive and the Ho Chi Minh campaign.
was a general and military theorist of Vietnam People's Army and a commander of the Viet Cong.

Viet Cong (National Liberation Front)[]

Nguyễn Hữu Thọ was the chairman of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
Trần Văn Trà 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 Viet Cong.
Nguyễn Văn Linh was a political leader of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War who served as party secretary of South Vietnam for Communist Party of Vietnam.
Võ Chí Công was a Vietnamese Communist political figure who was one of the founding members of the Viet Cong.
Huỳnh Tấn Phát chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam from 1969 to 1976.

Khmer Rouge[]

Pol Pot was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and 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.
Kaysone Phomvihane was the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955 to his death in 1992 and Prime Minister and then President after the takeover.
Khamtai Siphandon was the military commander of the Pathet Lao and Defense Minister after the takeover before succeeding Kaysone Phomvihane.

People's Republic of China[]

Mao Zedong was the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1945 and the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976.

Soviet Union[]

Nikita Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party and the leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. He was the leader of USSR when JFK was U.S. president.
Leonid Brezhnev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party and the leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982. He was the leader of the USSR when Lyndon B. Johnson was U.S. president.
Rodion Malinovsky was the Marshal of the Soviet Union and Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1957–1967.
Andrei Grechko was the Marshal of the Soviet Union Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1967–1976.
was the commander of the Soviet forces stationed in Vietnam.

North Korea[]

Kim Il-sung was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and the supreme leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994.