Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam

For the military head of the Communist Party of China, see Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China).

The Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam is the highest party official on military affairs in Vietnam, and politically the highest leader of the People's Army of Vietnam, making the officeholder the de facto Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Secretary of the Central Military Commission
Bí thư Quân ủy Trung ương
Emblem of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Flag of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Incumbent Tô Lâm since 3 August 2024
Central Military Commission
Term length	Five years
Inaugural holder	Võ Nguyên Giáp
Formation	1946; 79 years ago (1946)
Deputy	Deputy Secretary

Officeholders

Secretary of the Central Military Commission (1946–48)

No. [note 1]	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Rank [note 2]	Central Committee
1		Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911–2013)	1946	October 1948	3	1st Central Committee (1935–51)

Secretary of the General Military Commission (1952–61)

No. [note 1]	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Rank [note 2]	Central Committee
1		Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911–2013)	May 1952	January 1961	5	2nd Central Committee (1951–60)
					7	3rd Central Committee (1960–76)

Secretary of the Central Military Commission (1961–84)

No. [note 1]	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Rank [note 2]	Central Committee
1		Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911–2013)	January 1961	1977	7	3rd Central Committee (1960–76)
					6	4th Central Committee (1976–82)
2		Lê Duẩn (1907–1986)	1977	December 1984	1	4th Central Committee (1976–82)
						5th Central Committee (1982–86)

Central Military–Party Committee (1985–97)

No. [note 1]	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Rank [note 2]	Central Committee
3		Văn Tiến Dũng (1917–2002)	4 July 1985	1986	10	5th Central Committee (1982–86)
					6	5th Central Committee (1982–82)
4		Trường Chinh (1907–1988)	1986	18 December 1986	1	5th Central Committee (1976–82)
5		Nguyễn Văn Linh (1915–1998)	1987	27 June 1991	1	6th Central Committee (1986–91)
6		Đỗ Mười (1917–2018)	27 June 1991	26 December 1997	1	7th Central Committee (1986–91)

Central Military Commission (1997–present)

No. [note 1]	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Rank [note 2]	Central Committee
7		Lê Khả Phiêu (1931–2020)	26 December 1997	22 April 2001	1	8th Central Committee (2001–06)
8		Nông Đức Mạnh (1940–present)	22 April 2001	19 January 2011	1	9th Central Committee (2001–06)
					1	10th Central Committee (2006–11)
9		Nguyễn Phú Trọng (1944–2024)	19 January 2011	19 July 2024	1	11th Central Committee (2011–16)
					1	12th Central Committee (2016–21)
					1	13th Central Committee (2021–26)
10		Tô Lâm (1957-)	3 August 2024	incumbent

Notes

1.^ These numbers are not official.

2.^ The Central Committee when it convenes for its first session after being elected by a National Party Congress elects the Politburo.^[1] According to David Koh, in interviews with several high-standing Vietnamese officials, the Politburo ranking is based upon the number of approval votes by the Central Committee. Lê Hồng Anh, the Minister of Public Security, was ranked 2nd in the 10th Politburo because he received the second-highest number of approval votes. Another example being Tô Huy Rứa of the 10th Politburo, he was ranked lowest because he received the lowest approval vote of the 10th Central Committee when he stood for election for a seat in the Politburo. This system was implemented at the 1st plenum of the 10th Central Committee.^[2] The Politburo ranking functioned as an official order of precedence before the 10th Party Congress, and some believe it still does.^[1]