Lê Duẩn (7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1969 until his death in 1986. Lê Duẩn participated in the formation of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in 1930. During the French colonial rule, he was imprisoned in 1931-36 and 1940-45. Then until 1957 he served as leader of the Communist Party's Sector Section, and became General Secretary in 1960, thus leading the party after Ho Chi Minh. He continued Hồ Chí Minh's policy of ruling through collective leadership. and helped to formulate the party's policy for the development of the socialist economy.