{{short description|American labor union official}} '''John Francis English''' (April 14, 1889 – February 3, 1969) was an American labor union official. A member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), he was appointed as its Secretary-Treasurer by union president Daniel J. Tobin in 1946, and was re-elected to this post at every subsequent Teamsters convention until his death in February 1969 at the age of 80.<ref name="TribObit">{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/02/05/page/86/article/obituary-2-no-title |title=J.F. English, high Teamster official, dies |work=Chicago Tribune |last=Associated Press |date=February 5, 1969 |page=3A10 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19690130&id=adIdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3122,3464879 |title=John English, Teamsters Union Officer, Dies |work=The Daily News |location=Bowling Green, Ky. |date=February 4, 1969 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jNYvAAAAIBAJ&pg=6841,2958802|pages=10–|title=Beck Faces Eviction|newspaper=The Deseret News|date=June 14, 1957}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Commercial Car Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnEjAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=18 August 2013|date=March 1969|publisher=Chilton Company|pages=88–}}</ref> The organisation itself described English as the "greatest Secretary-Treasurer" it had encountered.<ref>{{cite book|title=The International Teamster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c49ZAAAAYAAJ|pages=43–|year=1954|publisher=International Brotherhood of Teamsters}}</ref>
== Life and career == In 1957, English was elected as a vice-president of the AFL-CIO. However, he lost the seat shortly after, when the Teamsters were expelled from the federation.<ref name="fink">{{cite book |last1=Fink |first1=Gary |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Labor |date=1984 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=0313228655}}</ref>
English was noted for being a Teamsters official who maintained a reputation for integrity, and who had openly opposed union president Dave Beck<ref name="MJ">{{cite news |last=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NOxQAAAAIBAJ&pg=7273%2C2320443 |title=Beck Made Big Mistake Ignoring John English |work=The Milwaukee Journal |date=April 5, 1957 |page=12 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref> but he also vocally defended Beck's successor, Jimmy Hoffa, and other Teamsters officials who faced accusations of corruption.<ref name="TribObit"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Thaddeus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a69CD1IRlpYC&q=john+english+teamsters+hoffa+kennedy&pg=PA195 |title=Out of the Jungle: Jimmy Hoffa and the Remaking of the American Working Class |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2003 |pages=95–96 | isbn=978-1592130276 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Harper |first1=Stephen J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NefJfpJWYQUC&q=john+english+teamsters+hoffa+kennedy&pg=PA75 |title=Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=2007 |pages=75–76 |isbn=978-0873515801 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref> Robert F. Kennedy, in his 1960 book about union corruption, ''The Enemy Within'', noted that "no question has ever been raised about John English's integrity" but also described his disappointment after English praised Hoffa at the 1957 Teamsters convention.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Robert F. |authorlink=Robert F. Kennedy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNCsLV5BwU8C&q=john+english+teamsters+hoffa+kennedy&pg=PA5 |title=The Enemy Within: The McClellan Committee's Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa And Corrupt Labor Unions |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2009 |pages=5, 119 |isbn=978-0786751587 |accessdate=2014-12-19 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{start box}} {{s-npo|union}} {{succession box|title=Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters|years=1946–1969|before=John M. Gillespie|after=Thomas Flynn}} {{end box}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:English, John F.}} Category:1889 births Category:1969 deaths Category:Trade unionists from Massachusetts Category:Activists from Boston Category:Activists from Miami Category:Trade unionists from Florida Category:International Brotherhood of Teamsters people Category:Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO Category:20th-century American people
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