Le Duc Tho - Paris Peace Accords

Vietnamese politician, born in Ninh Province, Vietnam. He joined the Communist Party of Indo-China (1929), was exiled by the French (1930–7), and re-arrested and imprisoned (1939–44). After World War 2, he worked for the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), entering its Politburo in 1955. For his actions as leader of the Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Conference on Indo-China (1968–73), he was awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize for Peace jointly with Henry Kissinger, but declined to accept it.

Le Duc Tho was born Phan Dinh Khai (Phan Đình Khải) in the Nam Ha province of Vietnam.

In 1930, Le Duc Tho helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. He then joined the Lao Dong Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party in 1955, now the Communist Party of Vietnam. Le oversaw the Communist insurgency that began in 1956 against the South Vietnam government.

Paris Peace Accords

The United States actively joined the Vietnam War during the early 1960s. While Xuan Thuy led the official negotiating team representing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the talks in Paris, Le and United States National Security Advisor Dr. Henry Kissinger since February, 1970 engaged in secret talks that eventually led to a cease-fire in the Paris Peace Accords of January 27, 1973.

While January 27 is generally recognized as the enactment date of the Peace Accords, the talks continued out of necessity. While U.S. ground forces were removed by March 29, bombing continued in North Vietnam. Due to continued allegations of ceasefire violations by all sides, Dr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho met in Paris in May and June of 1973 for the purpose of getting the implementation of the peace agreement back on track. On June 13, 1973, the United States and the DRV signed a joint communique pledging mutual support for full implementation of the Paris Accords.

Le Duc Tho and Dr. Kissinger were jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.