Ho Chi Minh was an influential communist leader for several years prior to the Vietnam War and well into the war. He established the North Vietnamese, Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh believed that communism was the answer for Vietnam, and ruled the Northern part of the country with an iron fist. Those who opposed his beliefs and decisions were placed in internment camps, or executed. The 1954 Geneva Conference, held in Geneva Switzerland, was hoped to help resolve conflict in Korea, unify Vietnam and restore peace to Indochina as a whole. The Geneva Accords, a product of this conference, decided to separate Vietnam into two separate zones. South Vietnam which was to be governed by the State of Vietnam and North Vietnam, to be governed by the Viet Minh, the communist party lead by Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam nor the United States signed anything at the Geneva Conference in hope that the country would stay unified but they lost out and the country split. Ho Chi Minh had a strong impact on Vietnam and began a strong communist movement in the country. He was president at the time that the United States decided to invade Vietnam and fight against the Northern Communists, and Ho Chi Minh.