 james phillip hoffa (born may 19, 1941) is an attorney and labor leader and the general president of the international brotherhood of teamsters. hoffa was first elected during december 1998 and took office on march 19, 1999. he was subsequently re-elected in 2001, 2006 and 2011 to five-year terms. ==personal life==   hoffa is the only son of jimmy hoffa, who was also a president of the teamsters, and his wife josephine (nÃ©e poszywak). he is the brother of judge barbara ann crancer. hoffa has a wife, virginia, and two sons, david and geoffrey. born in detroit, michigan on 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.how one man's bad luck paved way for creation of cranbrook the detroit news, january 14, 2002 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 law degree from the university of michigan law school (1966). hoffa was awarded a ford foundation fellowship to work in the michigan state senate as an aide to senate and house members doing constituent relations and research. hoffa is a member of alpha tau omega. he was an attorney for the teamsters from 1968 to 1993. ==teamsters activity== ===1996 campaign=== hoffa campaigned against the teamsters incumbent president, ron carey, at the teamsters international convention of june 1996 in philadelphia. after nearly 500,000 votes were cast in early november, 1996, ron carey had won the election by a 52 percent margin.swoboda, frank, "carey claims reelection win as teamsters president; thousands of challenged ballots await tabulation in close race against james p. hoffa." washington post. 15 dec. 1996: a25. online. nexis. 5 oct. 2009. at the time carey characterized the victory as 
1941_births American_labor_leaders American_labor_unionists Living_people Michigan_Democrats Michigan_State_University_alumni Michigan_lawyers People_from_Detroit,_Michigan Presidents_of_the_International_Brotherhood_of_Teamsters United_States_presidential_electors,_2008 University_of_Michigan_Law_School_alumni University_of_Michigan_alumni