Hoffa Said Probably Most Investigated Man in U.S.
Edilor'i Note: Jimmy Hot
fa, as head of the Teamiten
union, probably is the most
powerful tingle labor leader
in the country. Hit union it
ihe biggest one. and if he
chose to do so he could tie
the nation into knots by pull
ing the truckers off the high
ways. This is the first of five
dispatches on H o f f a , his
amazing rise to power and his
incredible ability to survive
investigation.
By HARRY FERGUSON
Washington -tliPH- Any list
of the most powerful men in
the United States wouldn't
make sense unless it included
James Riddle Hoffa. If he
were so minded, he could
make half a dozen phone calls
and plunge the nation into
chaos.
The International Brother
hood of Teamsters, Chauf
feurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers is the world's biggest
union with a claimed mem
bership of 1,720,000. As gen
eral president, Hoffa is the
boss with a salary of S75.000
a year and an unlimited ex
pense account. He doesn't con
trol all the drivers who roll
trucks across America's high
ways, but he controls enough
of them to make a shambles
of the economy of the nation's
j cities if he chooses to do so.
I A Teamsters strike in New
1 York, for instance, would
j leave perishable foods rotting
! on the docks and at the rali
j terminals. Delivery of fuel
j and milk would almost cease,
j Garbage would pile up. The
I pinch would be felt in 12
j hours. Within four or five
i days the big city would be
beaten to its knees.
I The thought that a nation
wide strike could make the
same thing happen all over
the country is frightening
enough to be a nightmare. It
would not be correct to say it
frightens Hoffa because he
doesn't frighten easily. But it
gives him pause and he has
gone on record as follows:
"There never will be, as long
as I have anything to do with
it, a national transportation
strike."
Move Toward Goal
Whatever Hoffa's enemies
say about him - and there are
plenty of them and they have
spoken volumes - nobody ever
accused him of being dumb.
Any nationwide strike has the
best chance of succeeding if
all the local and regional con
tracts expire almost simultan
eously. The Teamsters have
been working toward that
strategic position and will be
close to their goal in 1964.
5 .f. . V' sr i
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WOULD MAKE LIST Any list of the most powerful men in
the United States wouldn't make sense unless it included
James Riddle Hoffa, above. If he were so minded, he could
make half a dozen telephone calls and plunge the nation in
chaos. He is shown here as he testified bf fore a Senate com
mittee in 1958. (UPI)
f , -, (', Is.
mm
4 K !
"No Madam, towards Bruzers
are not made of iron . . . They
just wear like it!"
And we're not kidding! Here's real hoy-proof foot
wear, constructed by people who just got tired of seeing
shoes worn out before they should be. BRUZERS
change all that. They're
not just rugged . . . but
extra rugged. BRUZERS
outlast them all. Bring in
your toughest youngster,
and we'll demonstrate.
Hoffa's career is a study in
survival. When it seems inevi
table that prison doors will
clank behind him, he some
how snatches victory out of
defeat. He has been tried and
acquitted on charges of brib
ing an attorney to spy on the
Senate Rackets committee. He
has been tried and acquitted
of tapping the telephones of
subordinates in the Detroit of
fice of the Teamsters union.
Samuel Baron, former field
director of the union, accused
Hoffa of slugging him and
had some wounds to show, but
the case has not been prose
cuted for lack of corroborat
ing evidence. Hoffa and his
j union were expelled by the
ArL-LlU, but he went on
picking up members and
broadening the areas of his
authority.
Subpoenas are dropping
around us like confetti at a
country fair." George S. Fitz
gerald, a Hoffa attorney, ex
claimed when they had their
backs to the wall and were
fighting a half-dozen court
actions at once.
Faces Two Trials
Hoffa's powers of survival
still are being tested in two
pending legal actions. He must
stand trial in the coming
months on charges of misusing
$500,000 of Teamsters funds
in a Florida real estate devel
opment. He also must stand
trial on charges of receiving
a share of $1 million in il
legal payments from Commer
cial Carriers. Inc., a trucking
firm. It is doubtful whether
any day has dawned in the
last six years which didn't
find Hoffa engaged in litiga
tion. He became a labor leader at
the age of 19 when he was
working for 32 cents an hour
unloading freight cars for the
Kroger Grocery Co. in De
troit. The men had to stay
near the unloading platforms
12 hours a day although they
were paid only for the hours
they worked. Hoffa chose a
time when a big shipment of
strawberries had just arrived.
Then he led a committee of
six into the executive offices
and gave management the al
ternative of raising pay or let
ting the strawberries rot. The
raise was forthcoming.
From that day Hoffa began
clawing and fighting his way
to the top of the labor move
ment and he was not too par
ticular about the men who
boarded his bandwagon. The
Senate Rackets committee had
this to say about the men who
rose with Hoffa
"Hoffa employed persons
as business agents and organ
izers despite the fact they hid
been accused of armed rob
bery , kidnaping, larceny,
bookmaking, throwing stench
bombs, impersonating govern
ment officers, felonious as
sault and carrying concealed
weapons."
Hoffa doesn't bother to
deny that some of his associ
ates have unsavory records.
but merely says,-"I never turn
my back on anybody."
His appearance before the
Senate Rackets committee
made Hoffa known to persons
outside the labor movement
and it was there that he en
countered a young man nam
ed Robert F. Kennedy, coun
sel for the committee. They
first met when a mutual ac
quaintance invited them to
dinner. The dislike was in
tense and mutual. Hoffa was
quoted as having described
Kennedy as "a spoiled little
jerk" after they parted. Ken
nedy was confident he had the
goods on Hoffa and predicted
he would send him to prison.
It was a roaring feud from
the start and it still goes on.
Kennedy, because of his posi
tion as attorney general.
makes no public comments
about Hoffa these days, nut it
j is significant that federal
I grand juries in 14 cities are
I digging into the affairs of the
Teamsters union. There isn't
much doubt that over the last
six years Hoffa has been the
most investigated man in the
United States.
Next: Bobby and Hoffa
fight it out.
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