America has had presidents who rode horses, commanded armies, hunted dangerous game, and handled firearms. And then we have Dick Cheney, who managed to turn a Texas quail hunt into a trauma-center referral.
So, in the interest of history—and range safety—let us examine four very different chapters in American presidential gun culture.
First, Theodore Roosevelt.
Teddy pretty much destroys the curve.
Immediately after leaving the White House in 1909, Roosevelt departed for what became the year-long Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. This wasn’t some canned hunt where Teddy climbed out of a Land Rover, shot something, and went back to the lodge for cocktails. Roosevelt, his son Kermit, Smithsonian naturalists, guides, porters and others traveled through East Africa collecting specimens for science. Roosevelt and Kermit personally killed 512 animals during the expedition, including lions, elephants, rhinos and other big game. The larger expedition ultimately provided the Smithsonian with thousands of zoological specimens.
Teddy took his firearms seriously, too. Before leaving, he researched and practiced with several guns, including a .30-caliber Springfield, his famous Winchester Model 1895 in .405 Winchester, a Fox 12-gauge and a Holland & Holland .500/.450 double rifle.
In other words, Teddy wasn’t posing with a rifle.
Teddy was bringing enough rifle for an elephant.
The modern debate over big-game hunting is obviously different, and even in Roosevelt’s day the scale of the expedition attracted criticism. But historically, Roosevelt was simultaneously an enthusiastic hunter, naturalist and one of America’s most consequential conservation presidents.
Then we get Ronald Reagan.
There’s that wonderful real photograph of Reagan aboard Air Force One holding a scoped rifle. Reagan looks remarkably comfortable with it. Whatever your politics, he doesn’t appear to be wondering which end the bullet comes out of.
That brings us to Barack Obama.
In 2013, after Obama said he had shot skeet at Camp David, the White House released Pete Souza’s official photograph showing him firing a shotgun there on August 4, 2012. The photograph is genuine.
Obama looks like a man following instructions very, very carefully.
That’s not necessarily criticism. Everyone has a first day at the range. Somewhere there is undoubtedly a photograph of Teddy Roosevelt trying to operate a microwave, and I’d put my money on Obama in that competition.
And then there’s Dick Cheney. He made a fortune off Wars since 1995.
Dick didn’t need a White House photographer to convince America that he went hunting.
Dick brought evidence.
On February 11, 2006, Vice President Cheney was quail hunting in Texas when he fired his 28-gauge shotgun and accidentally hit attorney Harry Whittington.
In the face.
And neck.
And chest.
There are firearms safety mistakes, and then there is accidentally converting your lawyer into a patterning board.
Whittington survived, although his injuries were serious enough that he was hospitalized and later suffered a minor heart attack associated with a pellet near his heart.
The truly magnificent part came afterward. Whittington publicly expressed regret for everything Cheney and Cheney’s family had gone through.
Think about that.
Dick Cheney shot the guy, and the guy who got shot apologized.
Teddy Roosevelt hunted lions and elephants in Africa.
Ronald Reagan shouldered a rifle aboard Air Force One and looked like he’d done it before.
Barack Obama went skeet shooting at Camp David and provided photographic evidence that, yes, Barack Obama had actually fired a shotgun.
Dick Cheney shot a dude in the face.
I’m not declaring a winner. History has provided enough evidence for everyone to make that determination themselves.
But as a firearms instructor might summarize the entire presidential record:
Keep your finger off the trigger. Know your target. Know what’s behind it. Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Keep it unloaded when not in use… And if you’re hunting with the Vice President, wear even MORE hunters orange.
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