Hoffa, James R. (James Riddle), 1913-

Jimmy Hoffa a U.S. union and labor leader. He was born in Brazil, Indiana in 1913 and began his work as a union organizer with Detroit's Local 299 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1932. By December, 1946 he was president of Local 299. In 1952 he was elected international vice president of the Teamsters Union, and in 1957 he became international president. Under his leadership, the Teamsters negotiated the National Master Freight Agreement, the first nationwide collective bargaining agreement covering nearly every single truck driver in the United States.

Starting in 1957, Hoffa was the subject of government investigations which led to his imprisionment in federal prison in 1967. He retained presidency of the Teamsters. President Nixon commuted Hoffa's sentence in 1971 on condition that Hoffa no longer has any relationship with organized labor. Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975 and is presumed murdered. He was declared legally dead July 30, 1982.

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