William Hodding Carter III (born April 7, 1935) is an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV s ...

in the

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

administration.

Life and career

Carter was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

William Hodding Carter, II (1907–1972), and the former Betty Werlein (1910–2000). He grew up in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. ...

, a

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

delta city which is the seat of Washington County,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

. Carter attended Greenville High School before transferring to

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. He ultimately returned to Greenville and graduated in 1953. He then attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, from which he graduated ''summa cum laude'' in 1957. That same year, he married the former Margaret Ainsworth. They had a son, Hodding Carter IV (born 1962), and three daughters, Catherine Carter, Margaret Carter, and actress

Finn Carter Elizabeth Fearn "Finn" Carter is an American former actress. She is best known for her role in the 1990 film '' Tremors'', starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. Early life Carter was born in Greenville, Mississippi (U.S.). She is the daughter of ...

(born 1960). The couple divorced in 1978, and Carter that same year married

Patricia M. Derian Patricia "Patt" Murphy Derian ( Murphy; August 12, 1929 – May 20, 2016) was an American civil rights and human rights activist who fought racism in Mississippi and went on to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanita ...

, a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

official in the Carter administration and an author on topics relating to foreign policy,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

, and the "New South". Carter has a brother, Philip Dutartre Carter (born 1939), former publisher of the ''Delta Democrat-Times'', of Greenville, the newspaper started by their father and later publisher of the ''Vieux Carré Courier'' and financier of the weekly paper ''Gambit,'' both of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Russian roulette. After Princeton, Carter served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

for two years. In 1959, he began working for the ''

Delta Democrat-Times The ''Delta Democrat Times'' (sometimes spelled ''Delta Democrat-Times'') is a daily newspaper that has been published in Greenville, Mississippi, United States since 1938, when Hodding Carter merged his ''Delta Star'', which he started with his w ...

'' as a reporter. He was thereafter the paper's

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

and associate

. He covered, among many topics, the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and the rise of the

Mississippi Republican Party The Mississippi Republican Party is the Mississippi state affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Frank Bordeaux, and the party is based in Jackson, Mississippi. The original Republican Party of Mississippi was ...

, particularly under its chairman, Clarke Reed, a Greenville businessman and personal friend of Carter's despite their political differences. Carter wrote the book ''The South Strikes Back''. He won the Sigma Delta Chi National Profession Journalism Society Award for Editorial Writing in 1961. In the 1960s, Carter was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, both editorially and in political action. In 1968, he co-chaired the "Loyal Democrats of Mississippi" that replaced Mississippi's previously all- white delegation to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

, but later criticized the Delta Ministry (part of the biracial coalition) in his editorials. In 1964, he worked on

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's presidential campaign, but Johnson and his vice-presidential choice,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Hubert H. Humphrey of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, received only 13 percent of the vote in Mississippi in the last election held prior to passage of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

. Carter also worked on Jimmy Carter's campaign in 1976. President Carter appointed him

and State Department spokesman. Because of the

Iran Hostage Crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took ove ...

, Carter came into the public eye much more frequently than most of his predecessors and successors. When Ronald W. Reagan was elected in 1980, Carter left his post in the government and moved into television as a major critic of Reagan’s policies. Up until 1994, he held various positions for ABC,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, CBC, CNN,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

, and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

, including anchor,

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

, panelist, and reporter. His most notable television work was as the host of the media criticism show ''Inside Story'' on PBS. Throughout the 1980s, he was one of the rotating guest panelists for the roundtable segment of This Week with David Brinkley, while he also regularly wrote op-ed columns for various newspapers including ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. He gave the 1986 commencement speech at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

. Beginning in 1994, he served as the Knight Professor of Public Affairs Journalism at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

at College Park,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. He resigned the post in 1998 to become the president of the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

. He serves on a commission funded by the foundation, the

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, often referred to simply as the Knight Commission, is a panel of American academic, athletic and sports leaders, with an eye toward reform of college athletics, particularly in regard to emphasi ...

. Since then, Carter has lectured at universities all over the country and continued to do freelance work for the television and print media. His most recent position is University Professor of Leadership and Public Policy at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

. Carter contributed to ''After Snowden: Privacy, Secrecy, and Security in the Information Age'', published in May 2015.

References

External links

* *
Oral History Interview with Hodding Carter
fro
Oral Histories of the American SouthInterview
from The State of Things (radio show) on February 28, 2011
Hodding Carter IIITangled Nicaragua: An Exchange , by Tony Jenkins , The New York Review of Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Hodding III 1935 births American male journalists American newspaper editors American newspaper publishers (people) United States Assistant Secretaries of State Living people Politicians from Greenville, Mississippi Writers from New Orleans Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Princeton University alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Mississippi Democrats Journalists from Mississippi United States Department of State spokespeople