General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (Vietnamese: Tổng Bí thư Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam) is the title for the holder of the highest office within the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

The general secretaryship used to be the second-highest office within the party when Hồ Chí Minh was the chairman, a post which existed from 1951 to 1969. The general secretary also holds the title of secretary of the Central Military Commission, the leading party organ on military affairs, being the highest political and ideological leader of the People's Army of Vietnam; unlike some other Communist Parties' leaders, the Vietnamese position is said to rarely assumes a co-official government office or title such as State President at the same time, alongside the consensus-based five pillars lowering the position's supremacy in the Vietnamese political system compared to other one-party states. The general secretary ranks first in the Politburo.

Trần Phú, one of the founding members of the Indochinese Communist Party, was the party's first general secretary. A year after being elected, he was sentenced to prison by the French authorities because of anti-French activities. He died in prison the same year. Trần's de facto successor was Lê Hồng Phong who led the party through the office of General Secretary of the Overseas Executive Committee (OEC). The OEC general secretary led the party because the Central Committee had been all but annihilated. Hà Huy Tập, the third general secretary, was removed from his post in March 1938, and was arrested by the authorities in May. Nguyễn Văn Cừ, the fourth general secretary, was arrested by the authorities in January 1940, and executed by shooting on 28 August 1941. He was succeeded by Trường Chinh.

An article in Nhân Dân on 25 March 1951 described Trường Chinh's role as the "builder and commander" of the revolution, while Hồ Chí Minh was referred to as "the soul of the Vietnamese revolution and the Vietnamese resistance". Trường Chinh was demoted as first secretary in 1956 because of his role in the Land Reform Campaign. Hồ Chí Minh took over the office of first secretary, and appointed Lê Duẩn as acting first secretary. Lê Duẩn was elected first secretary in 1960 and was second to Hồ Chí Minh until the latter's death on 2 September 1969.

From 2 September 1969 until his death on 10 July 1986, Lê Duẩn was the leader of Vietnam. He died two months before the next National Party Congress. He was succeeded by Trường Chinh, the former general secretary. Trường Chinh was demoted from his post at the 6th National Party Congress and was succeeded by Nguyễn Văn Linh. The Western press called Nguyễn Văn Linh "Vietnam's Gorbachev" because of his reformist policies. He resigned because of bad health in 1991, and Đỗ Mười was appointed to the general secretaryship by the 7th National Congress. He ruled until 1997, when he was ousted from power by the reformist-wing of the party. Lê Khả Phiêu was Đỗ Mười's successor, and he was elected as a compromise candidate. He was ousted in 2001, before the 10th National Party Congress, when the Central Committee overturned a decision of the Politburo; a majority in the Central Committee voted to remove Lê Khả Phiêu as general secretary. Nông Đức Mạnh succeeded him, and he came to be considered a modernizer. Nông Đức Mạnh was the first general secretary with a university degree.