History of union busting in the United States Dave Beck, President of the Teamster's Union in that era, worked closely with Nate Shefferman on many deals not the least of which may have been his influence at Sears to discourage employees from joining the AFL Retail Clerks union which was trying to raid the Teamsters membership to join them instead. An indicator of the close relationship between the Teamster's President David Beck and Shefferman (excerpted from the article): "Beck dispatched Shefferman to Jim Hoffa last year (1956) to offer Hoffa the union's presidency if Hoffa would first help re-elect Beck and then wait 6 months for Beck to
Jimmy Hoffa bid in 1972; in prior elections, the union had supported Democratic nominees but had also endorsed Nixon in 1960. Suspicion was soon raised of a deal for Hoffa's release connected with the IBT's support of Nixon. It was alleged that a large sum of money, estimated to be as high as $1 million, was paid secretly to Nixon. Evidence was also alleged of a secret bribe paid in 1960. While glad to regain his freedom, Hoffa was very disappointed with the condition imposed on his release by President Nixon, which prevented Hoffa from engaging in union activities until March 1980.