Robert Kennedy Vs. Jimmy Hoffa

Robert Kennedy's work hunting communists revealed a talent for such crusades. In 1957, Kennedy found a new target: corrupt trade unions.

Kennedy claimed that Hoffa had misappropriated $9.5 million in union funds and had corruptly done deals with employers. Hoffa's lawyer, Edward Bennett Williams, managed to persuade the jury to find him not guilty. George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, did not agree with the verdict and Hoffa and the Teamsters Union were expelled from the association.

Hoffa was popular with his members and in 1960 was re-elected as president of the Teamsters Union. A long-term supporter of the Republican Party, Hoffa was a generous supplier of funds to Richard Nixon in his presidential struggle with John F. Kennedy. During the campaign, Robert Kennedy sent Hoffa a copy of his book, The Enemy Within. Kennedy wrote inside: "To Jimmy. I'm sending you this book so you won't have to use union funds to buy one. Bobby."

After Kennedy's election victory in 1960 he appointed Robert Kennedy as his attorney general. Once in office, Kennedy resumed his investigations into Hoffa's activities. Hoffa was eventually charged with taking money from the union's $300 Pension Fund. J. Edgar Hoover, a long-term opponent of the Kennedys, passed FBI files on the attorney general to Roy Cohn, who in turn gave them to Hoffa. However, Hoffa, who disapproved of the Kennedy's adulterous behaviour, declined to use this material against his prosecutors.

Hoffa undoubtedly made sweetheart deals with mob figures, but mob control over the union was exaggerated by the Kennedys and Life Magazine. Hoffa fiercely defended his control over the union. Teamster money was used to build several Las Vegas casinos, and was repaid with interest.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Robert
• Kennedy
• Vs.
• Jimmy
• Hoffa
• Bobby
• RFK
• Teamsters
• Union
• Hearings
• Senate
• Organized
• crime

[asstomouth1000]

@joinhandz amen brother.

[mohican19831]

@Taxidermistification chump....... rfk was a great man

[Crazcompart]

Oh...I like the Georgio Moroder "Scarface" music used in this presentation...

[Taxidermistification]

This is typical. Gangsters stand alone and knuckledown when they need to. Look at this chump rfk hiding behind daddy's friends in high office. You see this kinda thing e-very day.

[Taxidermistification]

HOFFA



[joinhandz]

@grtflmark You can hang any label you want on 1940-1980 America, just like FOX news. But baby if 1959 USA was Socialism, Marxism, or whatever ism, count me in.

[joinhandz]

It took John Brown, technically a murderous a criminal with the heart of a savior, to instigate an end to the legal, seemingly justified, yet fundamentally criminal act of slavery.

It took James Riddle Hoffa, technically a murderous criminal of the same heart to end it again.

It will take an equally murderous criminal to lead against criminals using their combined power to lift regulations that prohibited today's outright slavery, oppression and exploitation.

[grtflmark]

I remember Capitalism, too - it NEVER involved someone like Hoffa to be successful, but Socialism and Marxism does.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

Ooohh, the goosebump theme song to Scarface :)

[187BG]

@JohnnyMac2237 by making sure that the government does not have control over private markets or property rights. and can engage competative bidding wars for priced goods