HOFFA DISAPPEARED 39 YEARS AGO TODAY
Detroit, Michigan (JFK+50) The head of the Teamsters Union, James Riddle Hoffa*, disappeared thirty-nine years ago today, July 31, 1975, after last being seen in his car in the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in the Detroit suburb Bloomfield.
When Mr. Hoffa, who was apparently to meet with mob leaders, did not return home, his wife filed a missing persons report with local police authorities.
Police located Hoffa's vehicle, but was unable to locate the Teamsters boss.
Mr. Hoffa became president of the Teamsters Union in 1957 but had been the target of government investigations during the 1960s for his associations with organized crime.
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, frustrated with failures of the Justice Department to prosecute Hoffa, launched a full scale attack on organized crime including the Teamsters.
Jimmy Hoffa reportedly said when he was told of President John F. Kennedy's assassination....
"Well, Bobby Kennedy is just another lawyer now."
*James Riddle Hoffa (1913-1975) was born in Brazil, Indiana but his family moved to Detroit in 1924 where he would spend the rest of his life.JRH began work in a grocery store and rose in the ranks of organized labor. He became VP of the union in 1952 was president from 1958 to 1971.
JRH was convicted of attempted bribery of a grand juror in Chattanooga, TN and sentenced to prison. President Nixon authorized Hoffa's release in 1971 on the condition that he would not participate in union activities for 10 years. JRH was declared officially dead on July 30, 1982.
ROBERT A. TAFT DIED 61 YEARS AGO TODAY
New York City (JFK+50) Senator Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio) died of cancer at New York Hospital sixty-one years ago today at the age of 63.
Senator Taft, the son of President William Howard Taft, a conservative Republican, was a critic of FDR's New Deal in the US Senate in 1938.
Taft also was an opponent of Truman's policy of the containment of communism and also opposed membership in NATO.
Senator John F. Kennedy named Taft as one of the five greatest United States senators in 1957.
Detroit, Michigan (JFK+50) The head of the Teamsters Union, James Riddle Hoffa*, disappeared thirty-nine years ago today, July 31, 1975, after last being seen in his car in the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in the Detroit suburb Bloomfield.
When Mr. Hoffa, who was apparently to meet with mob leaders, did not return home, his wife filed a missing persons report with local police authorities.
Police located Hoffa's vehicle, but was unable to locate the Teamsters boss.
Mr. Hoffa became president of the Teamsters Union in 1957 but had been the target of government investigations during the 1960s for his associations with organized crime.
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, frustrated with failures of the Justice Department to prosecute Hoffa, launched a full scale attack on organized crime including the Teamsters.
Jimmy Hoffa reportedly said when he was told of President John F. Kennedy's assassination....
"Well, Bobby Kennedy is just another lawyer now."
RFK listens to Jimmy Hoffa
Congressional Investigation
September 17, 1958
JRH was convicted of attempted bribery of a grand juror in Chattanooga, TN and sentenced to prison. President Nixon authorized Hoffa's release in 1971 on the condition that he would not participate in union activities for 10 years. JRH was declared officially dead on July 30, 1982.
ROBERT A. TAFT DIED 61 YEARS AGO TODAY
New York City (JFK+50) Senator Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio) died of cancer at New York Hospital sixty-one years ago today at the age of 63.
Senator Taft, the son of President William Howard Taft, a conservative Republican, was a critic of FDR's New Deal in the US Senate in 1938.
Taft also was an opponent of Truman's policy of the containment of communism and also opposed membership in NATO.
Senator John F. Kennedy named Taft as one of the five greatest United States senators in 1957.
Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio
