Editing Lê Duẩn (section)

=== Last years and death ===
[[File:Le Duan's grave.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lê Duẩn's grave in [[Mai Dich Cemetery]].]]
By the time of the 5th National Congress, the party leadership had turned into a veritable [[gerontocracy]]. The five most powerful Politburo members were all over the age of 70; Lê Duẩn was 74, Trường Chinh was 75, Phạm Văn Đồng was 76, Phạm Hùng was 70 and Lê Đức Thọ was 72. Lê Duẩn is believed to have been in bad health during this period; he had travelled to the Soviet Union on several occasions for medical treatment during the late-1970s and early 1980s. It was reported that Lê Duẩn did not lead the party delegates of the 5th National Congress to the [[Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum|Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum]] because of his deteriorating health. Lê Duẩn looked both feeble and old; he had problems reading his report to the Congress.{{sfn|Van|Cooper|1983|p=64}}

Regardless of his health, the Lê Duẩn/Lê Đức Thọ clique still retained considerable power during the 5th National Congress; they were able to fill the 5th Central Committee, the 5th Secretariat and the [[5th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam|5th Politburo]] with their own supporters. Several moderates and old companions of Hồ Chí Minh as well as pro-Chinese communists (labelled dismissively as [[Maoism|Maoists]]) and followers of Trường Chinh were removed from the Politburo and the Central Committee. General Võ Nguyên Giáp was forced to leave the Politburo, though it was more to remove Giap as a figure of influence rather than for ideological reasons. Nguyễn Duy Trinh and Lê Thanh Nghị were removed from the Politburo because of their moderate stances, while Trần Quốc Hoàn, Lê Văn Lương and [[Nguyễn Văn Linh]] were removed because of their alignment with Trường Chinh. In their place Lê Duẩn and Lê Đức Thọ appointed military men, including [[Đỗ Mười]], [[Lê Đức Anh]] and General Đồng Sĩ Nguyên. The appointment of Nguyễn Đức Tâm and [[Nguyễn Cơ Thạch]] strengthened Lê Đức Thọ. The Lê Duẩn/Lê Đức Thọ clique thereafter had a clear majority within the 5th Secretariat.{{sfn|Trung|1982|pp=237–238}}

Lê Duẩn's report to the 5th National Congress was a biting self-criticism of his leadership and the party's management. He criticised political and economic corruption and the gerontocracy itself. The 5th Central Committee contained only one member under 60.{{sfn|Trung|1982|pp=239–240}} During this period the Central Committee was disrupted by factional infighting between pragmatists and conservatives. This struggle would lead to economic reform called [[Đổi Mới]] beginning in 1986 as Lê Duẩn and his supporters began the effort to open the economy.{{sfn|Trung|1982|pp=240–241}}{{sfn|Stern|1987|p=350}} According to reports, after the Congress Lê Duẩn suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in the Soviet Union. He remained General Secretary until on 10 July 1986 he died of natural causes in Hanoi at age 79.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vietnam ambivalent on Le Duan's legacy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5180354.stm |website=BBC |date=14 July 2006 |access-date=27 May 2024}}</ref> He was temporarily succeeded by Trường Chinh, who himself retired from the post and was replaced by Nguyễn Văn Linh(who had returned to the Politburo in 1985) at the December [[6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam|6th National Congress]].{{sfn|Corfield|2008|pp=111–112}} He was buried at [[Mai Dich Cemetery]].