Trong, Nguyen Phu

Trong, Nguyen Phu,

1944– Vietnamese political leader. Trong became a member of the Communist party in North Vietnam in 1968 and began working for the Communist Review in 1973, ultimately serving as editor in chief (1991–96). A member of the party's Central Committee from 1994, he became a member of its Politburo in 1997. Trong was first elected to the National Assembly in 2002 and served as its chairman from 2006 to 2011, when he was first elected general secretary of the Communist party. In 2018 he also was elected president of Vietnam, becoming the first person to hold the presidency and party leadership since the 1980s.