Ho Chi Minh led the movement for Vietnamese independence from colonizing France. He founded the Indochinese Communist Party of Vietnam (Viet Minh). Ho served as the president of North Vietnam from 1945 until his death in 1969. As a young man, Ho traveled the world, including stays in the United States, before settling in France during World War I. After WWI, Ho appealed directly to Woodrow Wilson for recognition of Vietnamese independence, but was rebuffed. He led a movement in Vietnam to fight for independence from France and created the Viet Minh party. In 1946 Ho defeated Francede in the battle of Dien Bien Phu. France withdrew from Vietnam, leaving it divided into the communist north and the anticommunist south, supported by the U.S. Ho Chi Minh served as the first president of North Vietnam. When the U.S. refused to recognize communist North Vietnam, the Vietnam War began. For nearly 20 years, Ho's forces fought the armies of S. Vietnam and the U.S. before driving the Americans out and defeating the south. Vietnam became the unified independent country of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.