Dick Cheney's Accidental Shooting of a Texas Lawyer Will Live on for Years

Evaluating former Vice President Dick Cheney's legacy is going to take some time, but it's fair to say that, in the wake of his death, he's going to be remembered as a hugely controversial figure. One of the most remarkable aspects of his legacy, though, has nothing to do with the Iraq War or the Bush White House.

Instead, it was that time he seemed to accidentally shoot another man in the face while they were out hunting together. Here's what we know about who he shot, and what the fallout from that incident was.

Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a Texas lawyer, in the face while they were out hunting together on a Texas ranch in February of 2006, according to The New York Times. Whittington was a well-known Republican operative in the state of Texas who had helped build the party into the force it is in the state, and who was often tapped by Republican governors when they needed help with state agencies. He was 78 at the time of the shooting.

Cheney was aiming for a bird on the Armstrong Ranch when he shot Whittington in the face, neck, and chest. The incident wasn't reported publicly until the day after, and Whittington suffered a minor heart attack because of a pellet that hit near his heart.

After being released from the hospital a week after the incident, Whittington actually apologized to the vice president for everything that he and his family had to go through in the wake of it.

Cheney, meanwhile, received plenty of criticism for not immediately making the incident public and for breaking one of hunting's cardinal rules. Namely, that you should always know what you're aiming at before you pull the trigger.

Of course, by this point, Cheney was already known as one of the key operatives inside the Bush administration and had already attained his controversial reputation.

In 2023, news broke that Whittington had died at the age of 95. According to NPR, Whittington died at his home in Austin, and his death was announced by friend and Republican political operative, Karl Rove.

Although Whittington was an operator in American politics long before he got shot in the face, it was that incident that made him, albeit briefly, a household name.

It's also the incident that headlined most of his obituaries in the wake of his death. In announcing the news of his death, Rove said that Whittington was "an enormous source of good counsel and mentorship to dozens." He worked for multiple Republican governors and also helped George H.W. and W. Bush at various points along their political careers.

"He was an extraordinary human being, and to be remembered as being the victim of a hunting accident sort of gripes me," Rove said. Cheney, meanwhile, will be remembered for his central role in the Bush administration and the response to 9/11, as well as for shooting Whittington in the face.