Jimmy Hoffa
James "Jimmy" Hoffa was a prominent figure in American labor history, born on February 14, 1913, in Brazil, Indiana. He rose from humble beginnings, entering the workforce at a young age and quickly becoming involved in labor organizing, ultimately joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Hoffa served as the union's president from 1957 until his controversial imprisonment in the 1960s, during which time he significantly expanded the Teamsters' influence, negotiating major contracts and increasing membership to over two million. However, his leadership was marred by allegations of corruption and ties to organized crime, leading to a federal investigation and multiple convictions for jury tampering and misuse of funds.
Hoffa is perhaps most famously remembered for his mysterious disappearance on July 30, 1975, shortly after he sought to reclaim his union leadership. His last known whereabouts were outside a restaurant in Michigan, and despite extensive searches and speculation—primarily regarding his potential ties to the Mafia—his body was never found. Officially declared dead in 1982, Hoffa's legacy continues to provoke interest and discussion, particularly regarding the impact of his leadership on the labor movement and the enduring myths surrounding his fate.
Jimmy Hoffa
- Born: February 14, 1913
- Birthplace: Brazil, Indiana
- Died: July 30, 1975 (disappeared)
- Place of death: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (disappeared)
American Teamsters Union president (1957–1971)
Major offenses: Misuse of union funds
Active: 1957–75
Locale: Detroit, Michigan
Sentence: Eight years’ imprisonment for jury tampering; five years’ imprisonment for misuse of union funds; commuted by President Richard Nixon in 1971
Early Life
James “Jimmy” Riddle Hoffa was born on Valentine’s Day in 1913 in Brazil, Indiana. His father was a coal miner who died seven years after Hoffa’s birth, leaving Jimmy and his mother impoverished. At fourteen, Hoffa left school to work in a Detroit warehouse. Concerned over the mistreatment of the workers, he participated in organizing his first strike at the age of twenty. Shortly thereafter, he was hired as a business agent by the local International Brotherhood of Teamsters (commonly called the Teamsters), a labor union that organizes truck drivers nationwide, and was quickly promoted.
Union Career
Hoffa was elected the international Teamsters vice president in 1952; he became president in 1957, succeeding Dave Beck after Beck was imprisoned. Hoffa allegedly had ties to the Republican Party and the Mafia, who assisted his ascension to presidency of the Teamsters. Hoffa guided the Teamsters in assisting truckers with securing better contracts through coordinating strikes and boycotts. The union was also criticized for using illegitimate means (such as violence and alleged ties to organized crime) in order to control workers and companies.
The Teamsters expanded quickly under Hoffa’s lead, with increasing membership that reached more than two million. Hoffa developed the union nationally by negotiating the first national master freight contract among trucking companies. He later attempted to expand the union to include employees of other transportation industries, such as the airlines. Despite improved working conditions for truck drivers, many local Teamsters Unions created deals that continued to exploit workers in order to make money for the union officials. In some industries, organized crime took control, with union officials receiving kickbacks. The corruption of the Teamsters under Hoffa was exemplified by the Central States Pension Fund—retirement money of union members meant to be invested for high returns. From this fund, the Teamsters loaned money to those in the underworld, including Morris “Moe” Dalitz, who then used the money in part to build hotels in Las Vegas.
Legal Action and Outcome
As a result of the Teamsters’ alleged ties with the Mafia, in 1957 Robert Kennedy directed a federal investigation into the union via the McClellan Committee, the abbreviated name for the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, headed by Arkansas senator John L. McClellan. Explosive confrontations occurred between Kennedy and Hoffa during the hearings, with Hoffa insisting that he did not remember events or individuals. National media provided extensive coverage of the events. Ultimately, the three-year investigation by the committee found, among other things, approximately ten million dollars of Teamsters Union money misappropriated by Hoffa. Over the course of five different trials, Hoffa was ultimately sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for jury tampering in 1962 and five years’ imprisonment for misuse of union funds in 1964.
Although he was imprisoned, Hoffa refused to resign his Teamsters presidency, and he continued to lead the union. After Hoffa had served four years in prison, President Richard M. Nixon commuted his sentence. (Hoffa had contributed financially to Nixon’s campaign.) Hoffa was released on December 24, 1971, on the condition that he refrain from any union activities for ten years. Because of this restriction, Hoffa was forced to give up his Teamsters presidency.
Disappearance
Despite Hoffa’s popularity as the president of the Teamsters Union and his publicized conviction and prison time, Hoffa is perhaps best remembered for the mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance in 1975. At that time, Hoffa was contesting the ban on his union activities and attempting to regain his Teamsters leadership. He was scheduled to meet two Mafia leaders at the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Hoffa was last seen in the parking lot on July 30, 1975. His body was never found, and investigators assumed he was killed by the Mafia, as he had incriminating information on many high-ranking mob bosses. However, no one was ever convicted for Hoffa’s murder. Several years later, he was declared legally dead, and a death certificate formalized his death on July 30, 1982.
Impact
After Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, the trucking industry was deregulated, countering many of the achievements made by Hoffa for truck drivers under the National Master Freight Agreement. However, despite his success within the union, Hoffa is remembered by most Americans for his disappearance and the speculation surrounding his presumed death, which, in turn, created further myths and investigations over the ensuing decades. With the technological advancements of evidence analysis, police were able to use deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence in 2001 to contradict the claims of Teamster Charles O’Brien that Hoffa never was in his car, although this evidence did not lead to any indictments. Three years later, Mafia hit man Frank Sheeran confessed to Hoffa’s murder in the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses, authored by former prosecutor Charles Brandt; the confession was not substantiated.
In Popular Culture
Many films, television series, and books have focused on Hoffa’s life and alleged mob ties, while references to his unfound remains are used for comedic effect within American popular culture. While Jack Nicholson's portrayal of him in the 1992 film Hoffa was one of the best-known fictionalized representations, fascination with Hoffa and his disappearance continued into the twenty-first century. Nonfiction depictions of Hoffa include the 2014 documentary Killing Jimmy Hoffa, directed by Alan Bradley. In the 2019 book In Hoffa's Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth, Jack Goldsmith, the stepson of Charles O'Brien, one of the men highly suspected of involvement in Hoffa's disappearance, chronicles his relationship with O'Brien and his own investigation into the case. That same year, the newest film to incite debate and discussion regarding the mystery was Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, which was released on the streaming service Netflix. The film, which stars Robert De Niro as Sheeran and Al Pacino as Hoffa, is based on Brandt's I Heard You Paint Houses.
Bibliography
Brandt, Charles. I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa. Hanover, N.H.: Steerforth Press, 2004. Sheeran, a Mafia hit man and Delaware Teamsters official, confesses to the murder of Hoffa in great detail.
Franco, Joseph, with Richard Hammer. Hoffa’s Man: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy Hoffa As Witnessed by His Strongest Arm. New York: Prentice Hall, 1987. A contract killer’s account of Hoffa’s expansion of the Teamsters with the help of the Mafia and his path to prison.
Kennedy, Robert. The Enemy Within: The McClellan Committee’s Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa and Corrupt Labor Unions. 1960. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982. Kennedy details the inner workings of labor and trade unions, including Hoffa’s role within them, and examines how Hoffa was caught attempting to tamper with the findings of the McClellan Committee.
Nero, Dom. "The Story of Jimmy Hoffa's Dangerous Life and Mysterious Death That The Irishman Left Out." Esquire, 27 Nov. 2019, www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a29937903/who-was-jimmy-hoffa-killed-death-the-irishman-true-story/. Accessed 2 Jan. 2020.