William Hodding Carter III ’57

    Hodding died May 11, 2023, of the effects of four strokes in Chapel Hill, N.C., his home. He is survived by his third wife, Patricia; and his four children, including Catherine ’80; and their families. 

At Princeton, Hodding was in the Woodrow Wilson program, a member of Quadrangle Club and Whig-Clio, and a Chapel deacon. He roomed senior year with Jim Conner, Wright Elliott, Nick Murphy, and Sumner Rahr. He was a Princeton alumni trustee for four years and a charter trustee for 10 more. He was also class secretary for five years. 

Hodding was probably the most publicly notable member of the Class of 1957, not only because of his prominence as a journalist and television news commentator but also for his charm, cool, good looks, and wit, overlaid with a deep-South accent and attendant grace. 

Hodding surpassed his heritage as son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor, publisher, and owner of the Mississippi Delta Democrat-Times newspaper, then a controversial voice of conscience in that contentious, violent civil-rights era. After two years in the Marine Corps, Hodding returned to the newspaper for 17 years, succeeding his father. He wrote 5,000 editorials, evolving from politically moderate to strident. 

He helped create at the Democratic National Convention an alternative to the segregated Mississippi delegation and helped Jimmy Carter (not a relative) narrowly win Mississippi. The president appointed him chief spokesman for the State Department. Millions watched Hodding on TV nightly as he delivered news of the Iranian hostage crisis while arguing with a contentious press corps. Hodding became anchor of Inside Story, a weekly PBS program, which won Emmy awards. Afterward, he held various positions with ABC, NBC, and PBS.