Trần Đức Lương

Trần Đức Lương (born May 5, 1937) was president of Vietnam from 1997 to 2006.
Lương was born in Quảng Ngãi Province, and moved to Hanoi after leaving school in 1955. He studied geology at Hanoi University of Mining and 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. Member of the Politburo since June 1996, he was elected president on September 24, 1997, and re-elected in 2002. On June 24, 2006, Lương announced his resignation (along with Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải). Nguyễn Minh Triết was named to succeed Lương as president.