Member of the Politburo since June 1996, Trần Đức Lương was elected state president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on September 24, 1997, and re-elected in 2002.

On June 24, 2006, Lương announced his resignation (along with Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải).

His retirement was quiet and he only joined the government national programs or state funerals of other senior members of the Communist Party.

[citation needed] His son, Trần Tuấn Anh was the head of the CPV's Central Economic Committee until the resignation in 2024.

[citation needed] Other family members of Trần Đức Lương work in commerce, trading field.