W. Hodding Carter III was the face of President Jimmy Carter's administration during the 444 days that American hostages were held by Islamic militants in Iran. Hodding Carter, the son of a Mississippi newspaperman who fought against the injustices of Jim Crow, never planned a career in politics. He inherited a love for journalism and eventually became editor of his father's paper, the Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Mississippi. Gradually, Hodding Carter stopped just observing and writing about the movement for equality, and joined it instead. This led him down a road that would take him out of journalism and into politics.