Jimmy Hoffa: The Mafias Greatest Hits - Volume Three -
(Three of the biggest unsolved mysteries during the past h...)
Three of the biggest unsolved mysteries during the past half-a-century are Who killed Jimmy Hoffa?; Why was Jimmy Hoffa killed? and Where is Jimmy Hoffas body buried? The answer to the first question is a no-brainer. The Mafia killed Jimmy Hoffa - plain and simple. But the why is much more complicated. Jimmy Hoffa and his nefarious union activities were joined at the hip with the Mafia since the mid-1930s. Hoffa was their fair-haired boy who delivered for the Mafia in more ways than one. Even before he became President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Hoffa used his influence with the IBT to provide several Mafia bosses, including Tampas Santo Trafficante, Louisianas Carlo Marcello, and Detroits Anthony Tony Jack Giacalone, hundreds of millions of dollar in unsecured loans from the Teamster Pension Fund. Those loans were used to fund numerous hotels/casinos and other businesses in various parts of North America including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and in Las Vegas. In truth, half the hotels/casinos in Las Vegas would never have never been built without the financial support of Hoffas IBT. Unfortunately for Hoffa, his brusque and dictatorial ways eventually made him unpalatable for the Mafia bosses, who were used to being treated with the utmost respect. The Mafiosos nickname for Hoffa was Marteduzzo, which is Sicilian for The Little Hammer, because he ruthlessly hammered away at anyone who displeased him, or got in his way on his rise to power. But as Hoffas disrespect for the Mafia bosses increased, the Little Hammer, inevitably transformed himself into the lowly nail destined to be banged into oblivion.
Jimmy Hoffa: The Controversial Life and Disappearance of the Godfather of the Teamsters
(*Includes pictures *Includes Hoffa's own quotes about his...)
*Includes pictures *Includes Hoffa's own quotes about his life and career *Profiles the various conspiracy theories surrounding Hoffa's disappearance *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading I've told you before and I'll tell you again. The strong survive and the weak disappear. We do not intend to disappear. - Jimmy Hoffa "He's not just the most powerful man in labor, Robert Kennedy had said in the wake of Hoffa's announcement; he's the most powerful man in the country, next to the President." Arthur A. Sloane, Hoffa A century ago, if one were to come across a manual laborer from the early 20th century or the Roaring Twenties and relayed to them the possibility of one day sticking it to The Man, one would probably be laughed out of the century. However, this was exactly what one man with solid-gold aspirations and audacity set out to achieve. Jimmy Hoffa, once described by Bobby Kennedy as the second most powerful man in America, was a union boss who evoked both respect and fear, and he continues to be a legendary figure who often crops up in conversation and media over 40 years after his disappearance. While it was an open secret that Hoffa had shady connections, the success of his leadership allowed supporters to overlook them. As Sloane put it, More apparent to Teamster members than any moral lapses were the tangible gains that had been steadily realized under Hoffa since his advent to power. Charles Brandt once wrote, From 1955 until 1965 Jimmy Hoffa was as famous as Elvis Presley. From 1965 until 1975 Jimmy Hoffa was as famous as the Beatles. But as famous as he was in life, it was Jimmy Hoffas demise that continues to fascinate the country. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa drove to an important meeting at the Machus Red Fox Restaurant, but he was never seen or heard from again. To this day, authorities are still searching for him (or presumably his remains), having been overloaded with false and dead-end leads throughout the decades. By championing the hearts and loyalty of America's trucking industry and arousing fear in the public for his rumored mob connections, earning a couple of enemies along the way was inevitable for Hoffa, but the mystery remains. Naturally, people have put forward ridiculous theories to explain his disappearance, but either way, its fair to say that the legendary life and times of the controversial and still-missing Teamster leader have produced one of the world's most baffling ongoing mysteries for good reason. Jimmy Hoffa: The Controversial Life and Disappearance of the Godfather of the Teamsters chronicles the tumultuous life of Jimmy Hoffa, one oozing with action and glory but also full of sinister entanglements with the criminal underworld. The book also looks at the enigma of his life and disappearance, exploring the most credible, fascinating, and downright nutty theories surrounding his persistently debated fate. Along with pictures and a bibliography, youll learn about Hoffa like never before.
James Riddle Hoffa was an American labor union leader who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union from 1958 until 1971.
Background
He was born in Brazil, Indiana, on February 14, 1913, the son of a coal miner who died when the boy was only seven.
His parents were Indiana natives John and Viola (née Riddle) Hoffa. His father, who was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, died in 1920 when Hoffa was 7 years old.
The family moved to Detroit in 1924, where Hoffa was raised and lived the rest of his life.
Education
Hoffa left school at age 14 and began working full-time manual labor jobs, to help support his family.
Career
The second of four children, Hoffa, an athletic, shy B-student, quit school after the ninth grade to work full-time as a stock boy in a department store.
Hoffa rose from obscure origins to stand in the national spotlight.
Here came a turning point in his life, brought on by what he called a need for self-preservation in the face of meager pay and poor working conditions.
In 1930, while still a teenager, Hoffa became a freight handler in a warehouse of the Kroger Grocery and Baking Company in Clinton, Indiana.
The young man soon led the other warehousemen in a successful strike that would become a part of the Hoffa legend: by refusing to unload a shipment of perishable strawberries, they forced the company to accede to their demands.
The four coworkers who had helped him carry off the strike at Kroger left with him and remained on his staff throughout his career.
Hoffa found his new work difficult in the beginning.
During the 1936, opposition to labor organizers was fierce and often violent.
Tenacity, bullish strength, and a persuasive personal style were traits that helped him not only survive opposition but win new recruits to his side.
In the Depression era, the Teamsters were loosely organized in isolated areas.
Hoffa helped Dobbs organize long-haul highway truck drivers under the Central States Drivers Council.
Thereafter, dealings with mobsters became regular.
Never admitting any illegality, Hoffa nonetheless did not hide these connections.
In 1952, he was elected an International Teamsters vice president.
Over the next decade, Hoffa set about centralizing the Teamsters.
As his power grew, local union leaders were encouraged to call Hoffa for authorization to hold strikes.
The national bargaining unit that he created amassed such clout that it forged the trucking industry's first national contract in January 1964.
Although his gains were resisted by industry leaders, Hoffa won a reputation for being faithful to contracts.
Within the Teamsters, the rank and file respected the gains he won for them and regarded him with open affection.
Prompted by allegations of labor racketeering, the United States Senate began investigating several unions in January 1957.
Nationally televised hearings were conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field—popularly known as the McClellan Committee, after its presiding officer, Senator john little mcclellan.
Over two years, the committee uncovered widespread corruption in the Teamsters.
Teamster president Dave Beck resigned; he was later convicted of larceny, embezzlement, and income tax evasion.
Kennedy devoted considerable resources within the United States Justice Department to prosecuting Hoffa, whom he described as heading a conspiracy of evil.
Despite several indictments, Hoffa escaped conviction until 1964.
First, he was convicted of jury tampering and sentenced to eight years in prison.
At a second 1964 trial, Hoffa received an additional five years for fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a Teamster benefit fund. In March 1967, with his appeals exhausted, Hoffa began serving his 13-year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, in Pennsylvania.
Hoffa refused to relinquish control of the Teamsters.
He was denied parole three times.
His attorneys worked to reverse the limitation, while he campaigned on behalf of prison reform.
Hoffa's car was found later, but he was never seen again.
For several years, the FBI maintained an open file on Hoffa, yet it never solved the mystery.
She was unsuccessful in her efforts.
In 1989, the retiring FBI chief in Detroit, Kenneth P. Walton, told the press that he knew the identity of Hoffa's killer.
Also in 1993, the longtime suspicion that Hoffa had been involved in a plot to assassinate President Kennedy generated renewed interest.
Frank Ragano, a former mob lawyer, claimed that he personally delivered a message from Hoffa to two mobsters, which read "kill the president. "
Such speculation has never been substantiated, but another aspect of Hoffa's legacy is beyond doubt.
Not until the late 1986, when the federal government took control of the union's national elections, did the Teamsters begin to emerge from the shadow of organized crime. In September 2001, The Detroit News reported that dna evidence placed Hoffa in a car driven by a longtime friend on the day of his disappearance.
The investigation was reopened but no further progress was made.
In 2001, Hoffa was reelected with almost a two-thirds majority vote.
Hoffa was a union activist from a young age and an important regional figure with the IBT by his mid-20s.
By 1952 he had risen to national vice-president of the IBT, and served as the union's general president between 1958 and 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters' rates in 1964.
He played a major role in the growth and development of the union, which eventually became the largest (by membership) in the United States with over 1. 5 million members at its peak, during his terms as its leader.
Views
Quotations:
Describing this "war" in his 1970 autobiography, The Trials of Jimmy Hoffa, he recalled, "Managements didn't want us around … and the police, recognizing who the big taxpayers were and responding to orders of politicians who knew quite well where the big contributions came from, seemed not only willing but anxious to shove us around. "
"In the old days all you needed was a handshake.
Nowadays you need forty lawyers. "
—Jimmy Hoffa ascended to power during the 1946.
Frequently referring to himself in the third person, he would often boast, "Hoffa can take care of Hoffa.
"But Hoffa was also running into trouble. "
Connections
Hoffa married Josephine Poszywak, an 18-year-old Detroit laundry worker of Polish heritage, at Bowling Green, Ohio on September 24, 1936. The couple had two children: a daughter, Barbara Ann Crancer, and a son, James P. Hoffa.