and joined the Tobacco Workers International Union without much thought. In fact, Hobby had developed some anti-labor sentiments during the war, viewing workers who went on strike as selfish while soldiers risked their lives defending the right to strike. Hobby credits a specific instance during a night shift as changing his attitude towards unions. His tasks suddenly were split onto two floors instead of just one, making it extremely difficult to get everything required done in the allotted time. When he asked a friend what to do about the situation, Hobby was referred to their union representative. A day later, all was back to normal, and Hobby had discovered how a union could provide security and stability in the workplace. He went to the next meeting simply to express his gratitude, and he guessed that he ended up going to every successive one for the next fifteen years. Hobby's interest in the union was duly noted, and he was soon elected president of the plant's night shift. Hobby's tenure was short-lived, however, because he was called back into the U.S. Navy in 1950 during the Korean War. He served for 18 months. During this time period, Hobby's opinion on racial issues began to take on their mature form. During the Korean War, Blacks were not required to eat at separate tables from whites (President Truman legally desegregated the armed forces in 1948). Despite his expectations of an awful experience, Hobby decided to sit with two Blacks one day. Reflecting back on the experience years later, Hobby said, "I was visibly surprised when I didn't feel any physical pain. I was … twenty-five years old and expecting physical pain just because I sat down and ate with them". Rise to power Upon his return to Durham, Hobby decided to enroll at Duke University, where he studied political science and labor economics. He combined this with his old job at the tobacco plant and also became the editor of the Durham Labor Journal, a pro-union publication. Feeling overworked, Hobby dropped out of Duke a semester short of graduation in 1955. This aided Hobby's rise in the labor movement. Already well-versed in the North Carolina political scene, Hobby was appointed Southern political director of the Textile Workers Union of America in 1958, and became director of the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE) for the seven southern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,