He was born in Quang Ngai province, and moved to Hanoi after leaving school in 1955. He studied geology, and was employed as a cartographer. He joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1959, and became a functionary of the party in the 1970s. In 1987 he became Deputy Prime Minister. He was became a member of the politburo in 1996, and was elected President in 1997.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by fixing it.