The Attorney General and the Teamster

The McClellan Committee.

In 1957 concerns with organized crime in labor unions led to the formation of a special congressional committee headed by Sen. John L. McClellan that was commonly referred to as the McClellan committee. McClellan brought along Robert Kennedy as the counsel for this select committee. It was in the hearings held by the McClellan committee that Kennedy first met James R. Hoffa. The committee had investigated Teamster leader David Beck who was later convicted of larceny and income tax evasion. The removal of Beck cleared the way for Hoffa to rise to command of the powerful Teamster Union, which represented truckers throughout the United States. By the mid 1950s it had become the largest union in the country both in terms of membership and funds. The Teamsters Union, and Hoffa in particular, was to become an obsession for Kennedy as the years progressed. The McClellan committee investigation of the union turned...

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