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When the WAAC was first organized, Congress grudgingly admitted that women could do 54 different Army jobs; under Oveta's constant nudging, they eventually came to fill 239 types of jobs—almost the whole sweep of noncombatant military duties. When the WAC was a year old, she proudly escorted Commander in Chief Franklin Roosevelt on his first full-dress review of the Corps. By 1944, WAC headquarters had requests for 600,000 women—more than three times the authorized strength of the Corps—from commanders all over the world.
D.S.M. to G.O.P. Through it all, Oveta managed to seem both completely military and completely feminine. She was a memorable figure around the Pentagon, with her trim uniform, Pallas Athene insigne, prematurely silver hair (recently retouched maturely black) and visored "Hobby hat" (which looked fine on Oveta and terrible on most other women).
But the going was far tougher than the colonel let on. When the New York Daily News's Columnist John O'Donnell wrote that "Contraceptives and prophylactic equipment will be furnished the WAACs," Oveta was heartsick. There was, inevitably, other malicious gossip to buck. In July 1945, Oveta was physically exhausted from the wear & tear. She turned in her eagles, was awarded the D.S.M. (the first woman ever to win it). Will Hobby hurried up to Washington, took her to a hospital, and hovered gently over her until she recovered. Then Will and Oveta resumed their newspaper life in Houston, working together at a roomy, jointly shared desk at home, with a direct line to the Post and a fine view of the oak trees in their yard.
A conservative Democrat (but no Dixie-crat), Oveta voted, nevertheless, for Wendell Willkie and Tom Dewey. In 1952, with her old Army friend Dwight Eisenhower in the race, Oveta fought for Ike in the Post, in the Texas primaries, at the Governors' Conference and at the G.O.P. Convention in Chicago. After he won the nomination, Candidate Eisenhower brought Oveta to his New York headquarters as head of the Democrats for Eisenhower. By December, President-elect Eisenhower knew exactly whom he wanted to handle the problems of welfare in an administration which was out to prove it believed in welfare, while abhorring the welfare state.
Cottage Cheese & Homework. When she took office as history's second woman Cabinet member, Oveta Hobby announced that her title would be Mrs. Secretary.* Then she settled down to the massive task of learning her job. She works six days a week (with time off every Saturday afternoon for a hairdo at Elizabeth Arden's). Her day begins at 6:30 a.m. with a thorough perusal of the newspapers, and she arrives at the office a little after 9. As a rule, work continues through lunch (invariably cottage cheese or fruit salads), with Mrs. Secretary issuing orders as she eats. It is 7:15 p.m., and often later, before her powder-blue, Government-owned Cadillac pulls up in front of the Connecticut Avenue apartment where she lives (along with such other tenants as the Alben Barkleys, Senator Eugene Millikin, Justice Tom Clark). Then, after a shower and a light supper, there is homework. Most nights, Oveta Hobby is hard at work until midnight.