Hoffa, Jimmy

Hoffa, Jimmy (1913-c. 1975), American trade unionist, who disappeared in 1975 and is believed to have been kidnapped and murdered. Hoffa was born James Riddle Hoffa in Brazil, Indiana. His father, a coal miner, died when Hoffa was seven years old. Hoffa left school in Detroit, Michigan, and at the age of 17 began work as a warehouseman for the Kroger Company, where he helped organize a strike.

By 1933 he was the business agent for Teamster Local 299 in Detroit, and in the early 1940s he formed and led the Michigan Conference of Teamsters. In 1952 he was elected an international vice-president of the Teamsters Union, and in 1957 he became international president. Hoffa earned a reputation among his peers as a tough and effective bargainer. In 1964 he negotiated the union's first national contract with trucking companies. Under Hoffa's leadership the Teamsters Union membership grew to more than two million.

Hoffa was long rumoured to be associated with organized crime and, beginning in 1957, was the subject of many government investigations and prosecutions. In 1967 he was sentenced to 13 years in the federal prison at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for jury tampering, pension fund fraud, and conspiracy. Despite his imprisonment, Hoffa refused to resign as president of the Teamsters and retained the support of most union members. After lengthy negotiations, United States President Richard M. Nixon commuted Hoffa's sentence on the condition that he resign his office and refrain from any union activities until 1980. Hoffa left prison on December 24, 1971. Unhappy with the bargain, Hoffa unsuccessfully fought it in court while covertly working to unseat his successor in the union, Frank Fitzsimmons. Hoffa's refusal to stay out of union affairs may have led to his disappearance on July 30, 1975. Hoffa was last seen at a restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he had an appointment to meet Anthony Provenzano, a Teamster boss and reputed Mafia figure, and Anthony Giacalone, a Detroit mobster, neither of whom would admit to having seen Hoffa that day. Hoffa was declared legally dead in 1983.