Cold Open

It’s spring of 1932, at a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan.

19-year-old worker James Riddle Hoffa, better known as Jimmy, carries a heavy crate of strawberries from a truck to a refrigerated car. He sets the crate down and then wipes sweat from his brow. His back aches, his hands are calloused and he wears a permanent scowl on his face as if he’s ready to fight at any moment. Today he is.

When Jimmy walks back to the truck where the strawberries are being unloaded, he gives a signal.

And at once, all of the workers set their crates down, no matter where they are. With hundreds of pounds of strawberries now sitting on the ground, the clock is ticking. If they aren’t put in the refrigerated trucks soon, they’ll spoil, costing these workers’ bosses plenty of money, and giving the employees the leverage they need to renegotiate their contracts.

When he hears that work has stopped, the night manager bursts in to see what’s happening. He orders the men to get back to work but they don’t budge. The only one who moves is Jimmy, who walks right up to the manager and hands him a list of grievances, demanding better pay and better working conditions.

The manager scowls, but he knows he’s in trouble if the workers don’t finish unloading those strawberries. So he promises to set up a meeting with management the very next day.

The workers cheer and whistle. Their show of collective strength seems to have paid off. And over the next few days, Jimmy and his fellow organizers negotiate a new contract which includes a raise.

This is Jimmy Hoffa’s first big victory as a labor organizer, but it won't be his last. In the wake of the Great Depression, unions will be on the rise in America. And by the fifties, they will hit their peak, and at the head of the labor movement will be Jimmy Hoffa.

After working as a warehouseman in Detroit, Jimmy will become a full-fledged labor leader, rising through the ranks of a union of truck drivers and warehousemen, known as the Teamsters. With Jimmy’s help, this organization will attract over a million members, becoming the largest union in America, and turning Jimmy into one of the most influential men in the country. But Jimmy’s ascendance will come at a cost. As he becomes tied to organized crime, the shady relationships Jimmy built to get to the top will precipitate his downfall, eventually leading to his disappearance, which will be officially reported on July 31st, 1975.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is July 31st, 1975: The Disappearance of Labor Leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Act One: Hoffa on Trial

It’s March 4th, 1964, at a courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee, more than three decades after labor leader Jimmy Hoffa’s first organizing victory.

The courtroom is packed with reporters and plenty of supporters, here to rally behind Jimmy and his co-defendants. The 51-year-old head of the Teamsters Union waits in his seat nonchalantly. It’s hard to tell he’s a man facing serious jail time for jury tampering. But Jimmy didn’t get to where he is by being squeamish.

From the early years of his Teamsters work, Jimmy has been involved with organized crime, developing relationships with mob bosses to help the union grow and prosper. These alliances have proved fruitful. Mobsters, once hired by businesses to forcefully break up strikes, started leaving the Teamsters’ picket lines alone, and even help the union trump its competitors, giving them muscle, financial support, and business connections. In return, Jimmy used his growing power to help enrich his friends in the mob, allowing them the use of the union’s pension fund as their personal bank, and believing it better for workers, and for himself, to keep them as friends rather than enemies.

Jimmy’s calculations paid off. Steadily, the Teamsters became the country’s largest labor union. Meanwhile, Jimmy rose to the role of Teamsters Vice President and then in 1957, its President. But his cozy relationship with the mob and criminal tactics have cast a long shadow over his efforts, bringing him many legal battles. Today, Jimmy finds himself at the courthouse yet again, waiting on the decision of a jury who will decide whether he’s guilty of bribing another juror during a previous trial, one in which he was accused of accepting illegal payments from an employer.

As the jury enters the courtroom, Jimmy turns around and flashes a grin at his son and daughter behind him. The prosecution may have laid out a damning array of evidence, but as usual, Jimmy is brimming with confidence. This is his fifth criminal trial in seven years. And each time, he's found a way to sell himself as a champion of the working man under attack and has escaped jail.

And it looks like today is no different when the jurors deliver a “not guilty” verdict for Jimmy's co-defendants. His body relaxes. Once he's done with this trial, he can get back to Washington, D.C., and fighting for the union. He leans forward onto the table where he’s sitting, restlessly waiting to hear the words “Not guilty” again. He stares at the back of the jurors who are facing the judge. His eyes drill into them as if willing them to make him a free man. But when the judge asks the jury to deliver their decision for Jimmy, they announce a guilty verdict.

Jimmy is in shock. His shoulders slump for a second. But he quickly catches himself, refusing to show any sign of weakness. Outside the courthouse, Jimmy remains defiant. Surrounded by reporters clamoring for his reaction, he doesn’t show the slightest amount of remorse or doubt as he calls the whole trial a “railroad job” and a “farce of American justice.”

A week later, the judge sentences Jimmy to eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Jimmy remains determined to fight the decision. He and his lawyers appeal the decision, but in July, Jimmy is convicted in a separate case. This time, he’s found guilty of misusing Union pension fund money for personal gain. For this, he’s sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy and mail fraud. Jimmy also appeals these convictions and takes them all the way to the Supreme Court, but he ultimately loses the battle.

In March 1967, Jimmy begins serving his 13-year sentence at a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Inside prison, Jimmy tries to maintain control of the Teamsters. He’s been forced to give up his title, but Jimmy hopes he can count on his long-time friend, Frank Fitzsimmons, who is now the Teamsters’ acting president. He and Frank have a long history, dating back to their early organizing days in Detroit in the forties. Jimmy feels confident he can keep running the union in prison through Frank.

But Frank has his own plans. Before long, the two men fall out as Frank fails to be the obedient ally that Jimmy hoped for. With his grip on the Teamsters slipping, Jimmy knows that if he wants to regain his dominance, he has to get out of prison. So he uses his powerful connections and infamous bargaining skills to try to win his freedom.

Though he may be losing allies to Frank, Jimmy still has plenty of friends in high places. And in 1971, President Richard Nixon commutes Jimmy’s sentence. Jimmy is thrilled to leave prison before his 13-year sentence is even halfway over. But his commutation comes at a price. Under the terms of his deal with the government, Jimmy cannot assume any union leadership for almost a decade.

Desperate to get out of jail, Jimmy will agree. But as soon as he’s free, he will begin plotting to retake the Teamsters. To succeed, he will have to take on the U.S. government and his own former allies. It’s a dangerous and improbable effort, but Jimmy will stop at nothing to reclaim his union. 

Act Two: Hoffa’s Comeback

It’s spring 1975, at Jimmy Hoffa’s home in Michigan, almost four years after the labor leader was released from prison.

The former Teamsters boss sits back in his chair, relaxed and confident as ever as he talks with a reporter.

Ever since his release, Jimmy has been fighting to reclaim the Teamsters presidency from Frank Fitzsimmons. The conditions of his release bar him from any union leadership until 1980. But Jimmy is appealing that agreement in court and, in the meantime, he’s been working to take control of his old local union, Detroit 299.

Jimmy plans to use it as a stepping stone to a nomination for the Teamsters presidency. But Jimmy knows Frank and his old allies don’t want to see him in charge again. This is especially true for Jimmy’s old friends in the mafia, who have gotten even richer under Frank’s leadership. But Jimmy isn’t willing to give up. It's just the latest battle in a lifetime of brawling for power and control. And Jimmy is determined to win.

But to do so, he knows he’ll have to keep up his formidable reputation and stay in the spotlight as much as possible. That’s why he’s speaking today with a reporter working on a story for Playboy Magazine.

Jimmy is famous for stonewalling some of the toughest prosecutors, but today he’s ready to open up. As the interviewer asks him about his relationship with Frank Fitzsimmons, Jimmy leans forward, his blood rising and voice raising as he talks about his old friend. Frank was once one of Jimmy’s most trusted comrades. But today he despises the man. He tells the journalist that Frank is a gutless double-crosser and claims that he’s destroying the Teamsters Union.

Then, Jimmy pauses for a moment. He looks the reporter steadily in the eye and straightens his back. Putting on a show of strength, Jimmy admits that, sure, there are a lot of forces against him. But he will not be intimidated by anyone. He fully plans to be President of the Teamsters once again. And when he is, there will be consequences for anyone who got in his way. The reporter, Jimmy says, should “tell the rats to get off the ship, because I’m coming back.”

As Jimmy wraps up his interview, he feels light. He has always been a fighter. In some ways, he feels most comfortable when he’s backed into a corner. And he's sure it’s only a matter of time before he’s back at the top and wants everyone to know his comeback is inevitable. That’s why Playboy’s not the only media outlet Jimmy’s been talking to. It’s just the latest in a series of interviews. And each time, he’s made the same points, attacking Frank’s leadership, and deeming him both inept and corrupt, and promising that when he’s president again, Jimmy will reveal the forces of criminality that have consumed the Teamsters.

It's this threat that quickly catches the attention of his old allies in the mafia. They were already fighting to keep Jimmy out of power, but his promise to blow the lid on their dealings with the Teamsters brings a new gravity to their situation. For weeks, Jimmy’s old friends in the mob cajole him to stand down. When he resigned as Teamsters president, Jimmy got a $1.75 million payment from the Teamsters. Now, they ask him what else he could possibly need.

But Jimmy isn’t just after money. He sees some big fights on the horizon for the Teamsters, and he believes he’s the best man to lead them. While Frank may be well-liked, Frank just doesn’t have Jimmy’s skill or experience. Jimmy has won some of the Teamsters’ biggest contract fights, and he doesn’t think Frank can handle what’s coming.

But, eventually, Jimmy does agree to a sit-down with two members of the mafia. A meeting is scheduled for Jimmy, Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacolone of the Detroit mob, and Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, Teamsters leader and New Jersey mobster.

On July 30th, 1975, Jimmy drives to the Red Fox restaurant in a Detroit suburb to meet with Tony Jack and Tony Pro. But when he gets there, the mob bosses are nowhere to be found. He sits waiting, but Tony Jack and Tony Pro never arrive. Believing he’s been stood up, he calls his wife from the restaurant to see if there're any messages for him at home. But she tells him no. So, Jimmy informs her that he plans to wait a little longer, but not too long, and assures her that he’ll be home in time to grill steaks for dinner.

But Jimmy will never make it home. In fact, he will never be seen or heard from again. His case will confound authorities who hit many a dead end in their search for the union boss who will seem to have disappeared without a trace.

Act Three: Jimmy Hoffa is missing

It’s the morning of July 31st, 1975, at Jimmy Hoffa’s home in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Josephine Hoffa, Jimmy’s wife, paces nervously in the kitchen. She barely slept last night, staying up all night waiting for the phone to ring or to hear a key turn in the front door.

The last time Josephine spoke with her husband was yesterday afternoon. He was supposed to meet with two colleagues, but he called her complaining they may have stood him up. And that was the last she heard from him. It’s not like her husband to go this long without contact.

As the minutes tick by with still no sign of Jimmy, she begins to fear the worst.

But as Josephine hears a car pull up, she fills with hope. She runs to the front door. But it’s not her husband waiting outside. It’s her son, Jimmy Jr.

When Jimmy didn’t show up last night, she called her son in a panic. When he heard the news, Jimmy Jr. caught the first flight home to be with his mother. Now, Josephine throws her arms around her son and thanks him for coming.

With her son’s support, Josephine calls the authorities and lets them know that Jimmy Hoffa is missing. The police search the area and find Jimmy’s car in the parking lot at the Red Fox restaurant. But there’s no sign of Jimmy, nor any indication of a struggle.

As the police grow stumped, Jimmy Jr. makes calls to every one of his father’s associates. But nobody seems to know where Jimmy could be. As the hours drag on, Jimmy Jr. and Josephine’s hopes dim.

The search for Jimmy Hoffa will stretch on for decades. Several theories will emerge about what happened, and multiple people will even claim credit for the union boss’s murder. But despite decades of investigations by law enforcement agencies, no conclusive evidence will be found. What is certain is that Jimmy angered many formidable people in his lifetime, many of whom knew how to make a body disappear. For years, authorities have looked for Jimmy’s body in fields, construction sites, and landfills across the country. But despite one of the biggest searches in U.S. history, no one has been able to find any trace of Jimmy Hoffa ever since he was reported missing on July 31st, 1975.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 1st, 1976. Austrian Formula 1 driver, Nikki Lauda, is nearly killed in a crash during the German Grand Prix.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Ruben Abrahams Brosbe.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.