Daniel J. Tobin was born on April 3, 1875 in County Clare, Ireland. He was the son of John Tobin, a storekeeper, and Bridget Kennelly Tobin. In 1889 he and a brother left Ireland, settling in Cambridge, Massachussets, in 1890. Throughout his life, he avoided discussing his family in Ireland.
Education
At night he attended secondary school in Cambridge.
Career
Tobin worked in a sheet-metal factory until 1894, when he became a motorman and driver for a Boston street railway, a job that led to his joining the Knights of Labor two years later.
In the late 1890's Tobin purchased a horse and wagon, and peddled dairy products and other goods around the city. A few years later he bought a team of horses and won contracts to sprinkle Boston's streets and to deliver meat for a packing plant.
In 1900 Tobin affiliated with Boston Local 25 of the Team Drivers' International Union. Conflict between employer-members, independent owner-operators such as Tobin, and hired drivers disrupted the national organization.
In August 1903, as an officer of his local, Tobin attended a conciliation conference at Niagara Falls, N. Y. , where he helped effect an amalgamation of various factions into the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (IBT). Bickering continued in the new union, however, with a growing segment of the membership turning against the president, Cornelius P. Shea. Finally, at the 1907 convention in Boston, the delegates elected Tobin as union head by a twelve-vote margin. In choosing him they were primarily rejecting the aggressive Shea for someone they felt would maintain an honest but weak administration. In taking charge of the IBT's headquarters in Indianapolis, Tobin in no way assumed command of the organization. Power in the IBT resided in large city locals that zealously protected their autonomy.
For several years Tobin confronted a divided executive board, half of which plotted to disrupt the union. In 1908 the New York leadership tried to remove him from office, and in 1909 he was beaten by dissidents and left for dead on the street. Eventually, however, Tobin reached an accommodation with powerful local leaders: they supported his management of the national office and he did not interfere in their affairs. Thus, by overlooking corruption at the local level, he ensured the permanence of the international body. The local leaders maintained control over collective bargaining, and from the 1930's they were responsible for expanding the union's scope and size.
Under Tobin's watchful eye the headquarters conducted its business honestly and increased its financial resources from $20, 000 in 1908 to $24 million by 1952. During his forty-five years in office, Tobin also was chiefly responsible for editing International Teamster. Restrained by local autonomy from exercising real power, Tobin devoted much of his energies to the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
In 1917, although Samuel Gompers opposed his candidacy, he defeated the incumbent, John B. Lennon, for the office of AFL treasurer. He held that post until 1928, when he resigned in protest of the AFL's refusal to endorse Alfred E. Smith for president. From 1933 until his death he was a member of the AFL executive council, and until 1952 he also served as vice-president of the AFL's building trades department. When William Green died in 1952, Tobin lobbied unsuccessfully to take his place as AFL president for a few months, in order to have a fitting climax to his career in the labor movement.
After Roosevelt's victory in 1932, Tobin hoped to become secretary of labor and received endorsements from almost every union. Roosevelt chose Frances Perkins, however, and offered Tobin no more than an appointment as a regional administrator for the Public Works Administration. Tobin declined the post but nevertheless continued to support Roosevelt, although the president rarely consulted him on important labor matters. For a brief period in the summer of 1940 Roosevelt appointed him an administrative assistant, and sent him to England on an inspection tour in 1942. Tobin also served on the president's Victory Committee, which provided unity in the labor movement during World War II. As a personal tribute to Tobin, Roosevelt launched his 1944 campaign at an IBT banquet; and after his victory he reportedly offered Tobin the post of secretary of labor.
Roosevelt's death ended Tobin's intimacy with the White House, for he did not get along with Harry Truman. The union paid his business expenses, his vacation costs, the mortgages and upkeep on two homes, and the wages of a maid, a chauffeur, and a handyman. For the most part, local leaders ensured that he remained isolated from the rank and file. When the national membership began to climb (from 456, 589 in 1940 to 1, 120, 245 in 1952), the local leaders insisted on greater control over the national office; and in 1947 they forced Tobin to appoint Dave Beck of Seattle as his executive vice-president to handle important union affairs.
In 1952 age, poor health, waning influence, and perhaps the promise of an annual pension of $50, 000 led Tobin to retire as general president emeritus of the IBT. He died in Indianapolis, Ind.
Fond of traveling, interested in foreign affairs, and intensely anti-communist, Tobin represented the AFL at international conventions. During the 1930's he ardently defended craft unionism against industrial unionism, condemned John L. Lewis for forming the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and in one noteworthy speech referred to mass-production workers as "rubbish. " He guarded the AFL's interests in fruitless unity talks with the CIO in 1940, 1942, and 1950.
An active Democrat, Tobin was among the earliest backers of Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency; and in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944 he was chairman of the Labor Bureau of the Democratic National Campaign Committee.
Except for his political activities, Tobin was a labor leader in the conservative mold, closely following the doctrines of "business unionism" laid down by Samuel Gompers.
Connections
He met Annie Elizabeth Reagen, the daughter of a packing plant foreman, whom he married in August 1898. They had five sons.
Tobin, his second wife, Irene Holloran, whom he married on October 31, 1922 (his first wife died in 1920), and their daughter lived comfortably on the $30, 000 salary he received by 1940.