Herald and news., May 05, 1963, Page 35, Image 35

Here is a veteran reporter's analysis of the two
tough men engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight
in which one of them is bound to get hurt By QUENTIN REYNOLDS
Author of "London Diary," "Drvts Rthoanal," "Courtroom,"
"Known But to God," and th forthcoming autobiography, "By Qusntin Reynolds"
JIMMY HOFFA FEUD
in this real Battle of the Century. When I was
a sports writer 100 years or so ago, I was taught
that the only way to judge the merits of two
heavyweights was to maintain a high degree of
objectivity. Suppose we use the same yardstick
in trying to evaluate these two fighters battling
in the judicial ring.
Physically and mentally they are well matched,
and both have great staying power. Jimmy Hoffa
weighs just under 180 pounds and stands five feet,
five-and-a-half inches. He is barrel-chested and
has strong hands heritages of his early years
of unloading heavy boxes from freight cars.
Physical fitness is a fetish with him; he spends
half an hour each morning doing push-ups, and
he neither smokes nor drinks. When he laughs,
which is often, his dimples show, his white teeth
gleam, and his hazel eyes laugh, too. His hair is
coal black, and it is hard to believe that he is 50.
When you hear him make public speeches to
his "boys" at a Teamsters' convention, he gives
the impression of being an angry man, a self
appointed prophet, and a rabble rouser. But have
lunch with him in the magnificent fourth-floor
cafeteria in the Teamsters building (workers in
the building call it, with considerable validity,
the best restaurant in Washington), and you'll
find Jimmy Hoffa a relaxed man of considerable
charm, warmth, and humor.
His conversation is not limited to union mat
ters. He reads all kinds of books; and when he
discusses some recent serious novel articulately
and intelligently, it. is difficult to accept the fact
that his formal education ended in the seventh
grade. Immaculately and quietly dressed, impec
cably barbered, he doesn't seem to have a trace
left of the tough, snarling youngster who de
clared war on employers after his father coughed
himself into an early grave, his lungs coated with
coal dust
Tha Family Man
HoftVs home life is not unlike that of his op
ponent He was married in 1936 to Josephine
Poszywak, and they have two children, Barbara
Ann, 24, now married, and Jimmy, Jr., 20. In
1939 Hoffa built a $6,800 brick residence in De
troit Today, although his salary is $50,000 a year
(plus the kind of expense account any important
business executive is given), he still lives in that
modest house. He travels a great deal, but when
ever he can get away from Teamster affairs, he
hurries home to his family. Like Bobby Kennedy,
he is devoted to them and, like Kennedy, no
"breath of scandal has ever clouded his family re
lationship. Hoffa is known as a one-girl man, and
"Jo" is his girl. She often accompanies him to
conventions, not because she is interested in
P" 'Iftff '
ft
p "ivy
I - rf
k' ' r
union affairs, but because she likes to be with
her husband.
If tis picture of Hoffa seems too flattering,
let me emphasize that it is the picture most of
his close associates have of him; it is also the
impression any reasonably objective observer
gets. I am not trying to fit a halo on Hoffa's head
the thing wouldn't fit I have no idea what goes
on behind the bright, charming facade which he
shows the world. Neither the Senate Rackets
Committee nor the judicial charges leveled
against him the past two years have been able to
shatter his confidence or his apparent contempt
for the Attorney General.
Hoffa's confidence is bolstered by the fact that
Kennedy has hauled him into court three times,
and each time he has walked out a free man. He
had a close call in a Nashville, Tenn., Federal
Court, where he was accused of taking a round
about payoff from a trucking firm. The case
ended in a "hung" jury, which was castigated by
the presiding justice.
f at First You Don't Succood . . .
Another test is imminent in the so-called Sun
Valley case. Hoffa was indicted by a Florida
grand jury for allegedly misusing a half-million
dollars in Teamster money to develop a model
city for retired persons in Sun Valley, Fla. The
indictment was thrown out on the technicality
that Negroes had been excluded from the grand
jury. Kennedy has reinstated the indictment, this
time carefully avoiding legal pitfalls. This trial
will have far-reaching significance for both men.
Despite his pleasant private image, there is
no doubt that Hoffa is the toughest most ruthless
labor leader of his time. He lacks the broader
social vision which characterizes a man like Wal
ter Reuther, head of the United Automobile
Workers. Some of Hoffa's officers and many others
' with whom he does business would be more at
home on "The Untouchables" television show than
in any legitimate business. But the rank and file
of the Teamsters' membership seem to have the
happy faculty of ignoring the company Hoffa
keeps; after all, they say, he negotiates better
contracts for them than any of his counterparts
in the union movement,
Hoffa is bitter toward Kennedy and his lawyers
because he feels that, although unable to convict
him in a court of law, they have convicted him in
the public mind through legislative investigation.
Union lawyers charge that the Senate Committee
did in effect damn scores of men, including Hoffa,
without giving them an opportunity to present
their case. Edward Bennett Williams, Hoffa's
brilliant attorney, has insisted that Hoffa and
other officials of the Teamsters Union were ac
( Continued on page S)
family Wnkly, Mmy 1, INI
s