South Vietnam’s Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan and Radio Hanoi announce that Ho Chi Minh is to be succeeded by a committee of leadership consisting of Le Duan, first secretary of the party; Truong Chin, member of the Politburo and chairman of the National Assembly; General Vo Nguyen Giap, defense minister, and Premier Pham Van Dong. Ho, the spiritual leader of North Vietnam and the Vietnamese communists in the South, had died on September 2. His passing led many in America to hope that the time might be right to negotiate an end to the war, but his death had little long-term impact on the war as he had long been only a ceremonial figurehead. The new committee carried on with the war until the Paris Peace Accords were signed in January 1973 and, after U.S. forces departed, directed North Vietnamese forces as the fighting renewed in the South until they were eventually victorious in April 1975.
This Day In History: September 6
