Truong Chinh

Truong Chinh (1907-1988) was one of the founders of the Indochinese Communist Party, with more of a focus on principally political dau trinh struggle than the more armed struggle of his internal rival, Vo Nguyen Giap. At various times, he was demoted, but later came back as a more powerful ideologist, in and out of the highest circles.

Born as Dang Xuan Khu, he was an early revolutionary, jailed by the French from 1930 to 1936. Truong Chinh means "Long March"; it was his revolutionary alias but he changed his name to it in honor of Mao Tse Tung, perhaps another indication of his political rather than military bent.

Going to China with Ho and Giap, he returned in 1946, and was chief of propaganda and ideology, ranking only behind Ho in the Party. Giap's victory at Dien Bien Phu weakened him. From 1951 to 1956, he was secretary general of the Vietnam Workers Party, but dismissed over land reform.

Land reform
After 1954, he created People's Agricultural Reform Tribunals, which were especially harsh on Catholic landholders that had not gone to the South. There were purges and an eventual insurrection in Ho's home province of Nghe Anh. The number of deaths is not known: 50,000 have been mentioned, but Sheehan dismisses that as Central Intelligence Agency propaganda, although he agrees the deaths were in the thousands. Ho apologized in 1956, dismissed Chinh from his ministry (but retained him in the Politburo), and Giap made a speech to a Central Committee meeting, saying there were unjust executions and terror.

Rehabilitation
He published a theoretical book in 1958. Gradually, he was rehabilitated into the  the National Assembly in 1960. He opposed combat against U.S. ground troops, counseling political dau trinh: organization and guerilla warfare. While his influence grew again, Le Duan, weaker in political theory and more hard-line on military action, surpassed him 1969, becoming General Secretary.

Le Duan, who had not been known to write extensively, published a theoretical article in the party newspaper, Nhan Dan, on February 14, 1970, establishing the dominance of his line and making him more likely to succeed Ho. Nevertheless, in 1979, Truong Chinh regained Politburo sttus.

In 1982, he headed a mission to Moscow, unsuccessfully requesting for Soviet economic assistance. He served as General Secretary for six months in 1986, but was retired over loss of confidence in economic leadership.

After his death in 1988, only three of Ho's closest associates remained: Pham van Dong, Le Duc Tho and Vo Nguyen Giap, probably his greatest rival.