7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7United States and by South Vietnam. North Vietnam,
where Ho and his associates were established, was a poor
country, cut off from the vast agricultural areas of the
south. Its leaders were forced to ask for assistance from
their larger Communist allies, China and the Soviet Union.
In these adverse conditions, Ho Chi Minh’s regime became
repressive and rigidly totalitarian. Attempted agricultural
reforms in 1955–56 were conducted with ignorant brutal-
ity and repression. However, “Uncle” Ho, as he had become
known to the North Vietnamese, was able to preserve his
immense popularity.
Beginning about 1959, North Vietnam again became
involved in war. Guerrillas, popularly known as the
Vietcong, were conducting an armed revolt against the
U.S.-sponsored regime in South Vietnam. Their leaders,
veterans of the Viet Minh, appealed to North Vietnam for
aid. In July 1959, at a meeting of the central committee of
Ho Chi Minh’s Lao Dong (Worker’s Party), it was decided
that the establishment of socialism in the North was
linked with the unification with the South. This policy was
confirmed by the third congress of the Lao Dong, held
shortly thereafter in Hanoi. During the congress, Ho Chi
Minh ceded his position as the party’s secretary-general
to Le Duan. He remained chief of state, but, from this
point on, his activity was largely behind-the-scenes. Still,
Ho certainly continued to have enormous influence in the
government.
American air strikes against the North began in 1965.
On July 17, 1966, Ho sent a message to the people—
“nothing is as dear to the heart of the Vietnamese as
independence and liberation”—that became the motto
of the North Vietnamese cause. On February 15, 1967,
in response to a personal message from U.S. president
Lyndon Johnson, he announced: “We will never agree to
negotiate under the threat of bombing.” Ho lived to see