Harry Whittington is an American lawyer from Texas who has been an active longterm Republican supporter, managing John Tower's 1961 Republican Senate campaign. He also worked on the campaign of George H. W. Bush for Senate in 1964, and rented office space to Karl Rove for his first mailing firm. He was appointed to serve on a variety of Texas state agencies, including a six-year stint on the Texas state prison board. While on that board, he exposed corruption in the prison system, and advocated for mentally disabled inmates.
In February 2006, Whittington was accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney while hunting quail. Whittington was hit in the face, neck, and chest by approximately 200 shotgun pellets, and was knocked unconscious and suffered a collapsed lung. Pellets had also lodged near his right eye and carotid artery, and one penetrated his larynx. Whittington was treated at the scene by Secret Service agents and by medical personnel that were traveling with Cheney. He was quickly transported by an ambulance which was already present on scene for possible use by the vice president. Several days later, while recovering in the hospital, a pellet lodged in his heart caused an arrythmia and minor heart attack. Whittington has since made a complete recovery except for permanent voice changes from the larynx injury. Following a police investigation, Cheney was officially cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, but both he and Whittington were issued warnings for not having the proper hunting stamps for quail. Whittington apologized to Cheney a week after his release from the hospital for what Cheney had to go through. As of 2010, Cheney had offered no public or private apology to Whittington for the accident.[1]
References
- ↑ Farhi, Paul. "Since Dick Cheney shot him, Harry Whittington's aim has been to move on", Washington Post, October 14, 2010, p. 5.