Texas attorney Harry Whittington dies after being shot by Dick Cheney during a 2006 hunting trip

Harry Whittington, former Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot while they were hunting quail He died on a ranch in Texas 17 years ago. he was 95 years old.

Whittington died Saturday at his home in Austin, family friend Karl Rove said Monday.

Prior to Whittington’s rise to national limelight after the shooting, Whittington was credited with helping build the Republican Party in Texas into its current dominant political force, and with governors in troubled states. has long been known for being the person he turned to when he needed to clean up. agency.

Loeb, an influential Republican strategist and former adviser to former President George W. ‘ was asked.

On February 11, 2006, when Whittington and others were hunting with Cheney at the sprawling Armstrong Ranch in South Texas, Cheney, then 78, was eyeing birds. Hit Whittington. The accident was not publicly reported until the next day when the ranch owner called the local newspaper, the Corpus Christi Caller Times, to tell them what had happened.

Whittington was sprayed with Birdshot pellets in his face, neck and chest and suffered a minor heart attack due to the pellets near his heart. When he was discharged from the hospital about a week after the accident, he said, “accidents do and will happen,” and “deeply apologize for everything” Cheney and his family had to deal with after the incident. I apologized to Cheney.

Cheney didn’t immediately go public with what happened, and that he had broken the cardinal rule of hunting that the person with the gun should see what he was shooting before pulling the trigger. It was criticized for

The accident also spawned countless jokes. Jay Leno, who was the host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” at the time, joked that Cheney would capitalize on the upcoming Valentine’s Day mishap with a new cologne named “Duck.” Billionaire Bill Gates greeted the audience at the conference by saying: My other invitation was to go quail hunting with Dick Cheney.

In an interview with Fox News days after the accident, Cheney said, “That moment was one of the worst days of my life.”

Cheney said the accident happened after Whittington came out of a hunting party and caught a fallen bird in deep cover. Chaney said Whittington was neatly dressed in orange, his upper body was visible, but he was standing in a ravine with the sun behind him.

“You can’t blame anyone else,” Cheney said. “I was the one who pulled the trigger and shot my friend.”

Whittington owned a building in downtown Austin where many of the Republican power brokers in the state built their empires. President Bush used the building as his headquarters for his gubernatorial campaign, as did former Texas Governor Rick Perry. Loeb also had his office there.

Whittington has been involved in Texas politics for many years. In 1961, he worked on John Tower’s campaign for the United States Senate, then helped a young Bush run for Congress, which he lost. He has also been a go-to for state governors trying to clean up troubled state agencies, and has served for decades on the state board.

In the 1980s, Republican Gov. Bill Clements appointed him to the former Texas Board of Corrections to oversee the state’s prison system, which a federal judge declared unconstitutional due to its brutal conditions.

Whittington came to advocate for changes in the prison system, which lacked basic medical care and where those in service were beaten by other inmates. He was also an advocate for the rights of mentally ill inmates.

The governor of Texas at the time, Bush, appointed him to head the reconstituted Texas Funeral Services Commission, which was embroiled in a whistleblower lawsuit in 1999.

Rove said Whittington has not only contributed to his community in countless ways, but has also been “a huge source of excellent advice and guidance for dozens of people,” including him. He said that Whittington is not only the landlord, but also the secretary and treasurer of his company.

“He was an extraordinary human being and it bothers me that he is remembered as a victim of a hunting accident,” Rove said.