Whittington’s reluctance to discuss about his one second of planetary fame was a mark of graciousness and gentlemanly propriety. Whittington, who died Saturday at 95, by no means blamed Cheney for practically killing him, nor the White House for distorting the occasions of that late afternoon in 2006. After rising from a Texas hospital, Whittington even appeared to blame himself.
“My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week,” he stated.
That remark contributed to the distortions surrounding the taking pictures, which occurred throughout a short quail-hunting journey on a ranch in South Texas. It urged that Whittington, not Cheney, was at fault for the unintended taking pictures — an impression the White House was all too pleased to nudge alongside and Whittington merely shrugged about later. As George W. Bush’s press secretary Scott McClellan advised reporters on the time, “Protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there.”
Not so. But Whittington, a outstanding and affluent lawyer in Austin, stored his personal counsel. It was practically 5 years after the truth that he opened up about what occurred that day.
He didn’t assign blame however he did sketch out circumstances that clearly urged Cheney had been careless, at greatest. His account urged that a lot of what had been reported — and far of what the White House wished reported — was flawed, or no less than shaded in phrases favorable to the vp.
Whittington as common was reluctant to discuss once I phoned him in 2010 in search of an interview. Rebuffed as soon as, I referred to as him again and proposed coming to Austin. We may meet, with no obligation. He agreed, warily.
We met at his workplace at 7 a.m., which was when Whittington, then 82, routinely began his work day. We talked, primarily about his life — his Depression childhood in East Texas; his school hustle as a live performance promoter who’d as soon as introduced Nat King Cole’s trio to segregated Austin; his lengthy authorized profession; his involvement in Republican politics and years of service on state commissions.
I wished to know about Cheney however was cautious not to press too arduous. He wasn’t prepared.
After a pair hours, he stated, “Want some lunch?” We drove over to the nation membership he’d co-founded a few years earlier.
I may really feel a change. He began introducing me to his associates and exhibiting me round. Afterward, he invited me to meet his spouse, Mercedes, at their magnificent residence overlooking Lake Travis. He identified his neighbors’ houses (“That’s where Andy Roddick lives, and Lance Armstrong lives over there.…”). Then he abruptly left the room.
I nonetheless hadn’t requested him a single query about the taking pictures.
When he returned, Whittington was holding an odd object on a hanger. It was an orange security vest, slit down the aspect as if somebody was in a rush to take away it. There have been brownish splotches of dried blood on it.
For the subsequent few hours, he advised me what occurred that day — no less than what he may keep in mind of it earlier than he’d handed out from his wounds.
Whittington barely knew Cheney; they weren’t “friends” or “hunting buddies,” as news accounts described them. They’d met only some occasions earlier than, and had been invited to the ranch by its proprietor, a mutual good friend.
It was late, round 5:30 p.m., and the February gentle was fading when Cheney fired his errant shot. Whittington stated he had been standing barely downhill and off to Cheney’s proper, his physique angled in Cheney’s route.
Though Whittington wouldn’t say so explicitly, his description urged that Cheney had violated two basic security protocols. First, in wheeling on a chicken winging from the scrub, Cheney had fired with out checking if his line of fireside was clear. Second, he’d aimed downward, ignoring a rule obliging bird hunters to observe “blue sky” earlier than firing.
The aftermath of the taking pictures was calamitous. The ambulance that carried the unconscious Whittington from the large ranch to a hospital blew a tire. The journey took shut to an hour.
The accidents he’d suffered have been far worse than initially reported. The blast hit Whittington with greater than 200 items of lead birdshot, inflicting scores of wounds throughout his eye socket, hairline, neck and torso. One piece lodged close to his coronary heart and triggered a gentle coronary heart assault a couple of days later. One of his lungs collapsed. Another piece narrowly missed his carotid artery. He practically bled out.
Whittington recounted these particulars with out anger or unhappiness. It was an accident, he insisted, and Dick Cheney was man.
After speaking for practically 10 hours, I had one final query. Had Cheney ever apologized?
Whittington leveled his stare upon me.
“I’m not going to get into that,” he stated after a brief pause.
His face was set. I may sense his discomfort.
Harry Whittington wouldn’t lie. He was too gracious for that.