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Story by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
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Dick Cheney called hunting accident ‘one of the worst’ days of his life
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has died
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WASHINGTON – Dick Cheney was an unapologetic hawk in military affairs as defense secretary and vice president, but his shooting an acquaintance in a hunting accident became a source of ridicule.
Cheney, who died Nov. 3 at 84, was hunting quail in South Texas in February 2006 when he accidentally shot fellow hunter Harry Whittington in the face, neck and torso with bird shot from a .28-gauge shotgun. Whittington had been retrieving a downed bird when another covey took flight and Cheney fired.
Cheney told Fox News that the accident was “one of the worst days of my life” and accepted full blame for the accident. He also defended the delay in disclosing the event until the next day.
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Then-President George W. Bush said Cheney handled the incident “just fine.” But then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the White House needed to be less secretive.
Whittington, a prominent Austin lawyer who was 78 at the time of the hunting accident, said the wounds he suffered did not slow him down but that some of the pellets remained embedded in him. He also suffered a minor heart attack while recovering.
“I’m able to navigate and get around. I still have a lot of ‘quiet pellets,’ but some of them had to be lifted and removed,” said Whittington, who died in 2023 at 95.
In a 2018 interview with the USA TODAY Network that coincided with the release of the Cheney biopic, “Vice,” Whittington said he remained in touch with the former vice president and harbored no ill will.
“He and I went to dinner,” said Whittington, who called the movie’s account of the shooting inaccurate and misleading. “We’re just acquaintances.”
Harry Whittington addresses the press outside Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial on Jan. 17, 2006 in Corpus Christi, TX. The 78-year-old Austin lawyer was accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney during a hunting trip in nearby Kleberg County.© Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times
The Caller-Times newspaper in Corpus Christi, now a member of the USA TODAY Network, broke the news about the accident after being notified by Katharine Armstrong, a member of the family that owned the hunting ranch.
Cheney later told Fox News that notifying the local news outlet was “just as valid” as The New York Times.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Cheney called hunting accident ‘one of the worst’ days of his life