[3] In 1952 Spaulding began working for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City during his summer breaks in between his college semesters.
[2] In May 1977 Spaulding was hired by Durham Life Broadcasting to serve as the public affairs director of its station WPTF-TV.
[9] Spaulding attributed widespread ignorance of the secretary of state's responsibilities to the elderly Eure, and said he would "revive the office" by raising public awareness of its functions.
He hoped to build a coalition of independent voters and blacks disenchanted with Howard Nathaniel Lee's defeat in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor to prevail over Eure.
[13] He launched a candidacy during the 1983 Durham mayoral election, taking two months off work to campaign and garnering the endorsement of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
He was dismissed by the board of trustees in September, following complaints that his leadership style was heavy-handed, including his decision to lay off all of the institution's professors.