Lê Duẩn
Lê Duẩn was informally chosen as the First Secretary of the party by Hồ in 1959, at the January plenum of the Central Committee and was elected to the post "de jure" at the "3rd National Congress". According to Bùi Tín he was not Hồ's original choice for the post; his preferred candidate was Võ Nguyên Giáp, but since Lê Duẩn was supported by the influential Lê Đức Thọ, the "Head of the Party Organisational Department," Lê Duẩn was picked for the post. He was considered a safe choice because of his time in prison during the French rule, his thesis "The Road to the South" and his strong belief in Vietnamese reunification. Hoàng Văn Hoan claimed, after being sent into exile, that the Congress also purged several party members. Indeed, three former ambassadors lost their Central Committee seats.