Harry Whittington Obituary

During a quail hunting trip in 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney unintentionally shot Harry Whittington with a 28-gauge shotgun,

leaving more than 20 birdshot pellets inside of him. Whittington passed away on February 4 at his home in Austin. He was 95.

Harry Whittington Obituary

Early in George W. Bush’s second term as president, the shooting of Mr. Whittington—as well as the circumstances surrounding how the incident was disclosed—became a significant scandal and fodder for late-night comedians’ jokes.

The only other vice president to shoot someone while in office was Aaron Burr, who in 1804 fatally shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Historians highlighted that Cheney was just the second vice president to do so.

On a 50-acre estate in South Texas owned by the Armstrongs, a wealthy family with strong links to the Republican Party, Mr. Whittington and Cheney, friends who had only seldom interacted, were hunting that February with the American ambassador to Switzerland.

Dusk had fallen. In the dense grass, Mr. Whittington was searching for a downed bird. Cheney fired after spotting a bird from a distance of roughly 30 yards, sending 200 birdshot pellets at Mr. Whittington, who was injured in the face, neck, and chest and collapsed to the ground.