Union organizer truck drivers and warehouse workers in and around Detroit. Jimmy Hoffa went on to become one of the most powerful labor leaders in U.S. history. The 1978 movie "F.I.S.T", tells the same story of Hoffa's beginnings as an organiser and of his rise to power, albeit with more liberties taken. Sylvester Stallone plays Hoffa as a man with good intentions, dogged on both sides, by both sides of the law. Both Hoffa stories feature Hoffa as a tough "man of the people" and chronicle how his organizing swelled the ranks of the Teamsters. Hoffa was notorious for taking an "ends
James P. Hoffa May 19, 1941, Hoffa attended Cooley High School. There, he became a member of the National Honor Society, and an all-city and all-state football player. During the summer months, the Hoffa family visited their cottage in rural Orion Township outside Detroit. Hoffa often accompanied his father to Teamster meetings and events, and became a Teamster in 1959 on his 18th birthday. Hoffa holds a degree in economics from Michigan State University (1963) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Michigan Law School (1966). Hoffa was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to work in the Michigan State Senate