Hodding Carter III

William Hodding Carter III (April 7, 1935 – May 11, 2023) was an American journalist and politician who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. He frequently appeared on the news and provided updates during the Iran hostage crisis. Early life Carter was born in New Orleans in 1935, the son of newspaper editor Hodding Carter and Betty Werlein Carter. He was raised in Greenville, Mississippi, where his father founded the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times, and was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Greenville High School, and Princeton University. He was in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959, before joining the staff of his father's newspaper. Career Journalism While with the Delta Democrat-Times, Carter wrote the book The South Strikes Back. He won the Sigma Delta Chi National Profession Journalism Society Award for Editorial Writing in 1961.