He was a far-right congressman and a titan of the oil industry. He’s suffered so many cardiac problems that you wonder whether he might be next in line for an artificial heart — that is, if he hasn’t secretly gotten one already. He has the personality of a — what? " Undertaker " is the first word that comes to mind, except that he refuses to offer so much as the benevolent smile and words of solace that are the undertaker’s stock in trade.

Yet there was something comforting about Vice-President Dick Cheney’s hour-long interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning. He works in a White House in which two of the most important players, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, had (until September 11, anyway) reportedly seen their influence wane as the result of palace intrigue. The head guy, George W. Bush, is possessed of questionable competence and a limited attention span.

Cheney has been the one steady figure.

So there he was on Sunday, his sepulchral presence enhanced by a funereal black suit, head tilted, talking in soft bureaucratese out of one side of his mouth, assuring host Tim Russert that we’re going to get Osama bin Laden and anyone else who was involved in the terrorist attacks.

" If you provide sanctuary to terrorists, you will face the full wrath of the United States of America, " Cheney said, his voice absolutely affectless. When Russert opined that that was " a strong statement, " Cheney — without so much as cracking a grin, or even a sneer — replied: " Yup. It is indeed. "

Cheney’s reappearance on Sunday was especially important because of the shaky manner in which the White House responded to last week’s attacks. Bush’s flights to nowhere did not inspire confidence, and neither did his empty, platitudinous statements. (His vigorous appearances on Friday, at the National Cathedral and in New York City, lent hope that he may be growing into his role as a public leader. But Bush certainly would have been well advised not to use the word " crusade " — as in, you know, " the Crusades " — to describe the battle to come.) Powell’s crisp briefings were offset by the memory that it was he, more than anyone, who let Saddam Hussein slip away in the Gulf War.

So it was left to Cheney — the prime minister, Bush’s brain, brawn, and backbone — to reassure the public that although all was not well, all would be well. That not only was he in charge, but he’d been stealthily calling the shots from a White House bunker during the worst of it last week, telling Bush (as though the president were a headstrong nephew) to fly to Nebraska rather than return to Washington, and giving the order — in consultation with the president, of course — to shoot down any commercial airliner that appeared to pose a threat.

In the absence of a confident, competent, hands-on president, Cheney may be exactly what we need right now: a bad man for bad times. Cheney may be liberals’ nightmare, but he’s dauntingly intelligent, experienced, and cool under pressure. The analogous figure is New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who’s gone from fascist to folk hero as a result of his inspirational leadership during the past week. (On NPR on Saturday, a talk-show host spoke of a friend who, just before the attacks on the World Trade Center, voted in the mayoral primary for the candidate whom he perceived as being the most different from Giuliani. Now he wishes Giuliani could serve another four years rather than being term-limited out of office.)

Cheney closed his interview with this: " There are those in the world who hate us, and they’ll do everything they can to impose pain, and we can’t let them win. "

Russert: " And we’ll find them? "

Cheney: " We’ll find them. "

Let’s hope so.

For full coverage of the Tuesday of terror, click here.

Issue Date: September 17, 2001