Harry Whittington, the person who former Vice President Dick Cheney by chance shot whereas they had been looking quail on a Texas ranch 17 years in the past, has died. He was 95.
Whittington died at his residence Saturday in Austin, household pal Karl Rove stated Monday.
Earlier than Whittington was thrust into the nationwide highlight after the unintended capturing, the legal professional was lengthy recognized for serving to construct the Republican Celebration in Texas into the dominant political pressure it’s right this moment and for being the person governors went to once they wanted to wash up troubled state businesses.
Rove, an influential Republican strategist and former adviser to former President George W. Bush, stated Whittington was “a person of huge integrity and deep compassion” who was known as on by leaders for “vital duties.”
Whittington and others had been looking with Cheney on the sprawling Armstrong Ranch in South Texas on Feb. 11, 2006, when Cheney, whereas aiming for a fowl, struck Whittington, who was 78 on the time. The accident wasn’t publicly reported till the following day when the ranch proprietor known as the native newspaper – the Corpus Christi Caller-Instances – and advised the paper what had occurred.
Whittington was sprayed with birdshot pellets to his face, neck and chest and suffered a minor coronary heart assault because of a pellet close to his coronary heart. When he left he hospital a few week after the accident, he stated “accidents do and can occur,” and apologized to Cheney, saying he was “deeply sorry for all the things” Cheney and his household needed to take care of after the incident.
Cheney was criticized for breaking a cardinal rule of looking – that somebody holding a gun ought to ensure they know what they’re firing at earlier than pulling the set off – and for not instantly going public with what occurred.
The accident additionally spawned numerous jokes. Jay Leno, then-host of “The Tonight Present” on NBC, quipped that Cheney can be capitalizing on the accident for the upcoming Valentine’s Day with a brand new cologne named “Duck.” Billionaire Invoice Gates greeted his viewers at a convention by saying, “I’m actually glad to be right here. My different invitation was to go quail looking with Dick Cheney.”
In an interview with Fox Information days after the accident, Cheney stated it was “one of many worst days of my life at that second.”
Cheney stated the accident occurred after Whittington had stepped out of the looking celebration to get a downed fowl in deep cowl. Cheney stated Whittington was dressed correctly in orange and the higher a part of his physique was seen, however that he was standing in a gully with the solar behind him.
“You may’t blame anyone else,” Cheney stated. “I’m the man who pulled the set off and shot my pal.”
Whittington owned a downtown Austin constructing the place lots of the state’s GOP energy brokers constructed their empires. Bush used the constructing for his gubernatorial marketing campaign headquarters, as did former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Rove additionally had his workplace there.
Whittington was a longtime participant in Texas politics. In 1961, he labored on John Tower’s marketing campaign for the U.S. Senate and later helped a younger Bush run for Congress, a race he misplaced. He was additionally a go-to man for governors making an attempt to wash up troubled state businesses and spent a long time serving on state boards.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, Republican Gov. Invoice Clements appointed him to the previous Texas Board of Corrections, which oversaw a state jail system a federal choose had declared unconstitutional due to brutal situations.
Whittington turned an advocate for change in a jail system that lacked primary medical care and the place individuals serving time had been subjected to beatings by different inmates. He was additionally an advocate of the rights of inmates who’ve psychological disabilities.
Bush, then governor of Texas, appointed him in 1999 to guide a restructured Texas Funeral Companies Fee, which was embroiled in a whistleblower lawsuit.
Rove stated Whittington not solely served his group in numerous methods however was additionally “an unlimited supply of excellent counsel and mentorship to dozens,” together with him. He stated Whittington was not solely his landlord, but in addition the secretary and treasurer of his firm.
“He was a unprecedented human being, and to be remembered as being the sufferer of a looking accident type of gripes me,” Rove stated.