September 4 - Announcement of Ho Chi Minh's Death

This Day in History: 4 September 2020 

 

4 September 1969 

 

51 years ago, today, the Vietnamese Radio Hanoi announced the death of Ho Chi Minh, who had died two days earlier. He suffered from heart failure at his home in Hanoi, and his body was later embalmed. They proclaimed that the National Liberation Front would halt military operations in the South for three days in mourning for Ho. He had been the spiritual leader for the communists in the Vietnam War since the earliest days of the struggle against France. The Chinese leaders assured the North Vietnamese of their continued support in the war against the United States, which was essential if the North Vietnamese wished to continue the war. 

 

Many in the United States hoped that the death of Ho would provide a new opportunity to achieve a negotiated settlement to the war in Vietnam, but this did not occur. The war would not end until 1975, when communist forces seized control of South Vietnam, and the county was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the next year. More than 3 million people were killed in the war, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese citizens. The effects of the war in the United States lingered long after the last troops had returned home. More than $120 billion was spent on the conflict. This led to widespread inflation, which was worsened by a worldwide oil crisis in 1973. The myth of American invincibility was also dashed, and the nation was left divided. 

 

Want to find out more about the life and death of Ho Chi Minh? Click here for more information, or here for more about the Vietnam War.