Le Duc Tho [key], 1911–90, Vietnamese political leader. A Vietnamese nationalist and one of the founders (1930) of the Indochinese Communist party, he opposed the French colonial regime, which twice (1930–36, 1939–44) imprisoned him. After independence and partition (1954) and Tho's appointment (1955–86) to the party politburo, he played a leading role in the North Vietnamese military during the Vietnam War. From 1968 to 1973 he was a key member of the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Peace Conferences. As North Vietnam's principal spokesman, Tho, along with Henry Kissinger, the United States' chief negotiator, hammered out the cease-fire of 1973. Both men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, but Tho declined the prize, saying peace had not yet been established.
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