Hồ led a revolution against the French rulers of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954. After overthrowing the French, a communist regime supported by the Soviet Union and China was set up in the northern half of the country, with himself leading the country as both president and prime minister. But, an anticommunist government supported by the United States, was set up in the southern half of the country because the United States did not want all of Vietnam to be communist during the Cold War.