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Remembering Robert Kennedy's feud with Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa

Jimmy Hoffa (left) and Robert F. Kennedy (right).

DETROIT – June 6 marks the 50 year anniversary of Robert Kennedy's death. 

Kennedy, the descendant of Irish immigrants, was a U.S. senator from New York when he was shot just after midnight on June 5, 1968, inside a Los Angeles hotel after winning California’s Democratic presidential primary. He died the next day.

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Decades later, Kennedy's rivalry with former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa stands tall in history. 

Kennedy, the Attorney General under his brother's presidency at the time, made it his mission to expose Hoffa and possible criminal infiltration of the trade union movement in the late 1950s.

In 1957, hearings began in Washington with Kennedy hammering Hoffa with questioning. The tension in the room is still felt today through video clips.

The hearings proved to be mostly entertainment. Hoffa was eventually charged with perjury but was still election to lead the Teamsters in 1957. 

Hoffa vanished from a Michigan restaurant in 1975. His disappearance remains unsolved.

Watch some clips from the Kennedy vs. Hoffa hearings:


About the Author
Ken Haddad headshot

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.

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