Page "President of Vietnam" Paragraph 2

Hồ Chí Minh was appointed Vietnam's first president in 1946 by the National Assembly.

Both the 1946 and 1959 Constitutions stated that the National Assembly had the power to appoint and dismiss the President.

The President represented Vietnam both internally and externally.

The powers and responsibilities of the President remained unchanged in the 1959 constitution.

The 1980 constitution transformed the office of head of state dramatically.

The office of President was abolished and replaced with the office of Chairman of the Council of State ( CC ).

The CC chairmanship was modelled after the Soviet office of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

The Council of State, as with the Council of Ministers, was a collective decision-making body.

Both the Council of State and the Council of Ministers were part of the executive branch ; the strengthening of these institutions weakened the role of the legislative branch.

The duties, powers and responsibilities of the Council of State were taken from the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which lost most of its powers and prestige in the 1980 Constitution.