Frank Fitzsimmons
| Frank Fitzsimmons | |
|---|---|
shown with Richard Nixon, 1973
|
|
| Born |
August 7, 1908 Jeannette, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | May 6, 1981 (aged 72) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Union leader |
| Spouse(s) | Cleo Delancy Hartman 1928-1963 Patricia 1964- |
| Children | Donald Fitzsimmons and Francis Richard Fitzsimmons (first marriage) Gary Fitzsimmons, Carol Ann Fitzsimmons (second marriage) |
| Parent(s) | Frank and Ida May Fitzsimmons |
Frank Edward Fitzsimmons (August 7, 1908 – May 6, 1981) was an American labor leader. He was acting president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1967 to 1971, and president from 1971 to 1981.
Frank Fitzsimmons was born in April 1908, in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, to Frank and Ida May Fitzsimmons. His father was a brewer who moved the family to Detroit, Michigan, in 1924 when Frank was 16. His father died of a heart attack when Fitzsimmons was 17 years old, and Frank dropped out of high school to support his family by working in an automobile hardware store. In 1932, he got a job as a bus driver in Detroit, Michigan, and New York City before becoming a truck driver in Detroit in 1935. He joined Teamsters Local 299, and became friendly with the local union's president, Jimmy Hoffa.
Fitzsimmons was elected Local 299 business manager in 1936, Local 299 vice president in 1940, and (at Hoffa's insistence) an international union vice president of the Teamsters in 1961. He was appointed secretary-treasurer of the 80,000-member Michigan Conference of Teamsters in 1949, and vice president of Teamsters Joint Council 43 in Detroit in 1959. During this time, Fitzsimmons became known as "a figure of ridicule" in the Teamsters; he was inarticulate, chubby, passive and easily embarrassed, and Hoffa and others frequently had him make coffee or hold chairs and rarely gave him any authority or duties. Nonetheless, Fitzsimmons was considered an adept manager and a very skilled contract negotiator. Despite Hoffa's many legal problems and the routine emasculation, Fitzsimmons remained the Teamsters president's staunchest supporter.
When Harold J. Gibbons resigned as Hoffa's executive assistant in December 1963 after a failed coup against the indicted Teamsters president, Hoffa appointed Fitzsimmons to the office. Hoffa was sentenced to eight years in a federal prison for jury tampering, conspiracy, and fraud, but was free while he appealed against the decision. Fitzsimmons was initially not considered to be politically popular enough to succeed Hoffa. But Fitzsimmons was elected General Vice President of the Teamsters in July 1966, which to many Teamsters leaders signalled Hoffa's intention to make Fitzsimmons his heir-apparent in the event Hoffa was imprisoned. On February 28, 1967, the Teamsters executive board passed a resolution appointing Fitzsimmons "acting president" in the event Hoffa was no longer able to carry out his duties.
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